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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton 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

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

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' 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 infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life