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

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

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half 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 overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

"It remains 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 7 December

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

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

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career