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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position 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 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton 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 impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"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"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life