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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following 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 progress towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

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

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in 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 fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life