Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

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

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point 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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to start 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 first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career