Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career