Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert 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 opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life