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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

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

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially 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. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially 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 require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career