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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton 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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

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

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

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of 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 start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th 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 use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career