Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

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

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

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping 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 event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life