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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It remains a good result to get second place. 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 one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention 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 out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life