Lando Norris Advances Nearer to Title as Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the championship, has failed to finish on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a strong performance. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

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

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

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after beginning at the back

At the start, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his advantage from starting first from Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inner line, Norris misjudged his braking point and ran deep into the corner

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

Through two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

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

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

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

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but after a few cautious laps to let his tyres to warm up, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver inquired his engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was easily able to repel Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Despite losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was could defend against Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, although he requires problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"In upcoming weekends we will try 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 positions on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken front wing

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

Piastri finished behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in some ways," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, after his heroic performance to qualify third in the wet

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

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of other cars but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career