Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could 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 remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career