Norris Edges Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows 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 win to Verstappen

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

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

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

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

George 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 and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career