Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next 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

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for 10th 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 protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

George Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down 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 margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," 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 end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career