Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

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

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However 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 zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

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

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

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life