Lando 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 behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place 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 title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career