Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position 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 after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

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

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires 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 got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his career