Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate 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 secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after 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 start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career