Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

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

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong 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 too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

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

Norris pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, George Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was able to overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams lacking the pace to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start in third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point following the worst qualifying performance of his racing life