LAS VEGAS (AP) — Max Verstappen, needing just three points over Lando Norris at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to seal a fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship, is suddenly in jeopardy of being denied the crown Saturday night.

Max Verstappen leads McLaren's Lando Norris by 62 points with three races remaining and needs simply to finish ahead of him in Las Vegas to become the sixth man to win four world championships.

McLaren's Lando Norris said he was probably not ready to challenge Max Verstappen for the Formula One title this season and accepted that his hopes were effectively over after a demoralising defeat in Brazil earlier this month.

Las Vegas held two championship races in 1981 and 1982, both title-deciding season-enders going under the name of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, before the Nevada city returned to the calendar last year.

The F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix returns for its second year, bringing even more thrilling racing and entertainment to the iconic Las Vegas Strip with a packed schedule of non-stop action.

The Red Bull racer could clinch the Formula 1 world championship Saturday night and join the elite club of four-time champions, alongside only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost and Juan Manuel Fangio.