Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

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

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life