Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over 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 podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single 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 protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his career