Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming 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 first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

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

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

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

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

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th 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 employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career