Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert 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 season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

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

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a single point for 10th following starting at the rear

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

But after an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver also second place to George Russell

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

George Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Norris returned after Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to settle, quickly closed his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris asked his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, 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 little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt 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"

Piastri started fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle 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 lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the ideal situation to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying session of his career