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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career