Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender 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 not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

Following 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 high-profile races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

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

However following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, 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 essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career