Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the desert as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," said Norris

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

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

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

• Lando Norris continued his momentum towards the championship despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Verstappen

But after an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the turn

That allowed Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Verstappen remained on track

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

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

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a lap, Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least theoretically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

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

Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

Piastri finished after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from essentially start to finish in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me now to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life