Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next 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 seventeen to Verstappen

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

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," 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 finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

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