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

The McLaren 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 after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages 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," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, 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

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life