Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Win

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off 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 behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life