Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event 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 dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career