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

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone 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 some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily 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 so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt 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 the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career