Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to a maiden championship with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver 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

Norris will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 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 good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and Red Bull"

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

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

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

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the back

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

However after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and went too deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his event, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

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

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

The Australian finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound after pitting during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously require quite a lot of things to favor me at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive performance to start in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point following the poorest qualifying session of his career