Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now 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 hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career