Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to 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 over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race 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 continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

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 car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life