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

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

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

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

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

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career