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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced 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 manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

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