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

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life