Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life