Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

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

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

After 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 maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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

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

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin 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 George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try 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 fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race 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 video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life