Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, 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. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion 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 Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

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 able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way at this stage 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, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career