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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after 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 more than 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 podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping 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 was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life