Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first championship with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will win the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a good result to get second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

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

• Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the back

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

But following an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

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

Verstappen was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, quickly closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver 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 accept second place or attack

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

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

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise everything we've have," Max Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking 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 behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, 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"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic showing 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 executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career