Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim 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 impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

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

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

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

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life