Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped 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 now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship 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 season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," 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 end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged 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 position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career