Max Verstappen capitalised on a Lando Norris error at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to claim victory and keep his dream of a remarkable fifth straight F1 title alive.
From second on the grid, Verstappen, who needed to out-score Norris by 10 points to keep his title hopes alive, was subject to a Michael Schumacher-esque chop from pole-sitter Norris to cover off a lunge from the Red Bull into Turn 1.
However, Norris got deep on the brakes and ran wide, allowing Verstappen to slip through, with George Russell also muscling past as the drivers' championship leader slipped to third.
Verstappen and Russell then broke away in the early stages, before Russell slipped back with steering issues as Norris eventually passed the Mercedes on Lap 34 for second after the sole pit-stops.
He was told to "go and get Verstappen," but was unable to chip away at the five-second buffer the reigning champion had built up, with Verstappen crossing the line 20.7s clear of Norris, with Russell completing the podium.
There was late drama as Norris was forced into extreme fuel-saving measures in the closing stages, but he still managed to take second place.
The other title contender, Oscar Piastri, suffered Turn 1 contact from Liam Lawson and dropped to P7 as he spent most of the race in traffic.
He would eventually finish in P4, meaning the points situation heading into Qatar is Norris on 408, Piastri on 378 and Verstappen on 369.
It is a 30-point gap for Norris over his team-mate, meaning the title cannot be won in the Qatar Sprint race.
From 19th, after Yuki Tsunoda started in the pit-lane, Lewis Hamilton was able to finish 10th, to claim one point for Ferrari.
The report continues below.
Result Race - Las Vegas
Norris fails to hold position
Despite initially pulling off the aggressive defence on Verstappen, Norris did not make Turn 1, sailing into the run-off as Verstappen kept to the racing line to slip into the lead.
Using the low downforce strengths of the Red Bull, Verstappen pulled away, but was joined by Russell in a two-car breakaway, with Russell getting closest into Turn 14 at the end of the Strip, but could not break 0.3s to the Red Bull.
After this, Verstappen streaked away as Norris began to come back into contention, with the front-runners all on the medium compound tyres.
Russell was the first to jump the gun for a pit-stop, doing so at the start of Lap 18 of 50 for the hard tyres, with Norris responding on Lap 23, and Verstappen on Lap 26.
The Red Bull rejoined in the lead ahead of Russell and Norris, with the championship leader told to up his pace to "go get Verstappen" before scything past his fellow Briton on Lap 34 with the aid of DRS into the chicane at the end of the Strip.
Verstappen never came under threat from Norris, crossing the line to record a 69th grand prix win, and to reduce Norris's points lead to 42 points, with 58 left on the table as Russell banked third.
Kimi Antonelli picked up a five-second time penalty for a false start, having started on the soft tyres. He pitted under a virtual safety car for opening lap chaos featuring multiple cars, for the hard tyres.
This meant Antonelli vaulted up the order to run fourth in the closing laps, as Piastri could not pass the Italian, as he also tried to defend from the fast Charles Leclerc behind.
Antonelli took fourth on the road, but with the penalty, was demoted to fifth as Piastri took fourth.
Coupled with Norris taking 18 points for second, Piastri lost a further six points to his team-mate, meaning he is 30 points behind heading to Qatar.
Antonelli was fifth, ahead of Leclerc in sixth, with Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton rounding out the points positions.
Turn 1 chaos
Behind the Norris-Verstappen incident at Turn 1, there were multiple collisions.
Liam Lawson suffered a puncture after clipping Piastri and dropped out of contention, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto rammed Lance Stroll at Turn 1, eliminating both, whilst Pierre Gasly also suffered contact, ruining his 10th on the grid and a chance to nab a point for Alpine.
Esteban Ocon, whom Hamilton struggled to pass, was 11th, beating team-mate Oliver Bearman as Fernando Alonso managed a broken front-wing to 13th place.
From the pit-lane, Tsunoda was 14th, ahead of Gasly in 15th, Lawson in 16th, and Franco Colapinto in 17th - the last finisher.
Alex Albon was subject to a five-second time penalty for hitting Hamilton on the Strip, akin to Hamilton's own penalty in Brazil on Colapinto, before he retired, with Bortoleto and Stroll the other non-finishers.
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