Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

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

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

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

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

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should settle for second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the margin increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - just one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

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

Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his career