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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place 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 doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a positive outcome to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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

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

• Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the victory to Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak persisted as his championship chances wane

• A excellent win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after starting at the rear

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

Norris pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen ten laps later

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon closed his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to run the rest of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, although he needs problems for Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we consistently attempt to optimize everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will try to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri began fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before overtaking him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously need quite a lot of factors to go my way now to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

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

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the first lap and continued to advance positions

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