Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to 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 impressive in the opening stages of the season, 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 too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

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

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention 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 Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career