Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate 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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th after beginning at the rear

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

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following 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 race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life