Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life