Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

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

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the season 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

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually 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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

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

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

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

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

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

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound 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 disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career