Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

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

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

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

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

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken 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 got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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