Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over 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 at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, 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 strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career