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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the Qatar 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 opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get 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:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Verstappen

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

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise everything 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 know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career