Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes diminish

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

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

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

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career