Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

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

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

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

• A superb victory for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the event

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen ten laps later

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

Norris rejoined after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning 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. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at minimum mathematically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Verstappen stated

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

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing race from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar secured eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion made a flying start, up to 13th on the first lap 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 salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career