Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over 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 strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of 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 starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career