Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert 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 opening stages 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," said Norris

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

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

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake 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 start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life