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

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors 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 place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life