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

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into 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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his career