Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win 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 impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first 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

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know 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 followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life