Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen 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 strong performance. I erred early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

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

That enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to start in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

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