Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, 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

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

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

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

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