Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to get second place. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his progress towards the championship losing the win to Verstappen

• Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the back

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

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

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

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver 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 even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his race, essentially asking whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will try to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing race from essentially start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his electric start to salvage a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career