Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his title hopes diminish

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after starting at the back

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

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

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen remained on track

Norris pitted five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver'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 theoretically, although he requires 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 got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt 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"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a broken nose section

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

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

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

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to qualify third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the worst qualifying session of his career