Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden 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 finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

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

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one less than the two McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

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

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career