Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to 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 almost the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train 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 racing life