Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get 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 7 December

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after 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 position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following 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 replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors 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 something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career