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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of 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 second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

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

"It remains a positive outcome 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 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off 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 behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

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

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi 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, after his heroic showing to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career