Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on 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 Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his progress towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also second place to Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing to qualify third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career