Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event 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 continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

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

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for 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 attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life