Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert 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 championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion 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 always try to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life