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

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career