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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than 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 podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances wane

• A excellent victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

From the beginning, 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 Max Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

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

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his heroic performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life