Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

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

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously 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 best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth before 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 move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life