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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton 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

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, 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 present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

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

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 lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career