Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas F1 Race Victory

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

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished 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 championship in the Qatar 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 opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place following starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

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

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

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the ideal situation to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career