Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake 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 praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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 prestigious races were:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting 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 advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life