Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver 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

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, 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 present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career