Norris Advances Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Max 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 prestigious races were:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the back

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

But following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his career