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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved 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 fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of among Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off 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 drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start 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 hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life