Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his 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 and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"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 the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits 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 finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned 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 several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life