Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

After 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 were:

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

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends 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 very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to start in 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 thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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