Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate 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 win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

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

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting 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 protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced 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 run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap 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 overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself 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 time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life