Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than 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 made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need 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 capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career