Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place 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 despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

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