Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind 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 thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows 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 title losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

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

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

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

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

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