Lando Norris Advances Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

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

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

• A superb win for Max Verstappen to keep him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following beginning at the rear

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

But following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

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

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

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

The McLaren driver stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

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

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for 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 Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - just one behind both McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if 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 have," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in 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 positions on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

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

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his career