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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

At the start, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

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

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying performance of his career