Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship 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 opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

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

He was told to "chase down Max" 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 began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career