Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert 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 first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake 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 Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

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 Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life