Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half 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 too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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 high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to keep him in the championship battle

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

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the turn

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising 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 following the poorest qualifying session of his racing life