Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped 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 trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life