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

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

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

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life