Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Max had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following starting at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful 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 following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly 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 the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying performance of his career