Lando Norris Edges Closer to Title as Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will claim the title in the Qatar 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 top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

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

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking point and went too deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

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

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

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

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

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to experience a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the size of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of things 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 circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life