Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

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

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

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

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

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

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

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

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed 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 able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life