Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning 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 little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to 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 after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

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

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life