Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix 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 next weekend

Norris will secure the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

After 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 included:

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

• Oscar Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes wane

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

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

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

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished 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 start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of things to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career