Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

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

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

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life