Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows 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 losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here 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 the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

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

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

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

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, 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 place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career