Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life