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

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful 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

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle 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 Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career