Norris Advances Nearer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar this coming weekend

The Briton will win the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the first half of the season, has not finished on the top three for six races

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

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Max and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Recoveries for both Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

At the start, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present to avoid risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver also the runner-up spot to Russell

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

Russell made an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen stayed out

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

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

Lando Norris rejoined after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

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

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the championship - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he requires issues for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the race and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a broken front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took eighth place 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 continued to advance positions

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career