Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

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

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life