Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After 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 prestigious races were:

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled 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, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his 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 "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career