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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th 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 lead from pole position from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken 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 Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life