Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas F1 Race Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

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

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his career