Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits after 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 even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner 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 additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life