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

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian ended up after 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 time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth 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 move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his career