Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than 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 consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

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

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life