Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar 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 not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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 high-profile races included:

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

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

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

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