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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will secure the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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 maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career