Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title 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 opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After 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 were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an forceful move 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 allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," 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 extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life