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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the podium for six consecutive events

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

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Max and his team"

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 included:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the title losing the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult performance streak continued as his title hopes wane

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following beginning at the back

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

But after an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

That allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while the British driver lost the runner-up spot to Russell

Through two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver asked his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap extended significantly as the McLaren car started to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

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

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in the final two events to overtake him

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

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

Piastri began in fifth but lost two positions on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged nose section

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

The Australian ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a start-line infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

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

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Simply try to position myself in the best position I can. I obviously require several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, insufficiently close to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the pace to challenge with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet weather

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

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

He became trapped in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was could employ his electric start to rescue a championship point after the worst qualifying performance of his career