Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

Following 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 continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

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

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits 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 competed nearly 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 clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career