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

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following 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 lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

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

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the margin extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life