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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will claim the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and Red Bull"

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not here not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's challenge on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Norris rejoined behind George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against 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 teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least theoretically, even if he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to optimize all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a point following the poorest qualifying session of his career