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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up 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 Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar 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 go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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