Lando Norris Moves Nearer to Championship as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

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

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

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to head off the Verstappen's challenge on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

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

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, after his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

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