Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver 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 this coming weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following starting at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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