Norris Moves Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the championship in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Verstappen

But following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost 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 Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," 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"

Piastri began fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life