Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming 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 championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events 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 very proud of the entire team"

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career