Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

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

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

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

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life