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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert 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 season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also 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 made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career