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

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

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so impressive in the first half of the championship, has failed to finish on the podium for six consecutive events

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

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

After Qatar, the last event of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

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

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

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

At the start, Lando Norris was true to his statement that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver also second place to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

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

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his engineer how to run the remainder of his race, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended substantially as the McLaren started to experience a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he needs issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon taken out of the battle by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the pit-stop period

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a disappointing event from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several 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 capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his career