Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

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

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should accept 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 Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

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

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

He got stuck 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 worst qualifying performance of his career