Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

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

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

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

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken front wing

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

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

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