Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with second place 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 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert 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 not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

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

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