Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim 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 impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

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

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

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

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life