Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second place. 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 one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

• A superb victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life