Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's 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 secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits 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 engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life