Lando Norris Moves Closer to Title as Max Verstappen Takes Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

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

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

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake early on and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event of the season takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

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

• Norris continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place after beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inside, Norris miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

That allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while the British driver lost second place to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

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

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

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to allow his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and swept by into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was easily could repel Lando's attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far not been defined

Despite dropping nearly three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the size of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando 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

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the whole event on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously need several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

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

Hadjar secured eighth before the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

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

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to employ his strong beginning to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying session of his career