Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

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

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life