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

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the championship 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 first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

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

Lando Norris rejoined behind Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Piastri began in fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time champion made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career