Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up in fourth place behind the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next 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 17 to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the first half of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. 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 one of Formula 1's most high-profile races were:

• Norris maintained his progress towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form continued as his title hopes wane

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from pole position from Max Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Lando Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

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

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, effectively asking whether he should settle for second or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum mathematically, even if he requires issues for Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a significant margin, we consistently attempt to maximise all we've have," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two positions on the first circuit following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken front wing

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

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

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Just attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

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

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the first lap and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his racing life