Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try 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 everyone"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying performance of his career