Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive 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"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five laps after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed 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 frustrating event from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

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