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

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren started to suffer 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 advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of 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 start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth place ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to employ his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life