Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Takes Vegas Grand Prix Win

McLaren's Lando Norris stepped closer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen

Norris now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished in fourth place after the Mercedes of George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

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

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the podium for six races

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," said Norris

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

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

The main developments of among Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the championship losing the win to Max Verstappen

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

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

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, following a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the rear

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

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

This enabled Max Verstappen to overtake into the first place while the British driver lost second place to Russell

During two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, including at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

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

Norris stopped five laps after the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

Verstappen was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his fresher tyres

Norris returned behind Russell from his pit stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second gap to the Mercedes driver and swept by into runner-up position on the thirty-fourth lap

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

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was easily could repel Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far remained unidentified

Despite dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was able to hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had established while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth victory of the season - only one behind both McLaren teammates - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

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

"During the coming events we will attempt 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 began fifth but lost two places on the first circuit after being hit by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

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

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on hard tyres following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not clearly visible on replays

"It was a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed 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 favor me now to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the top teams in the dry, after his heroic performance to start third in the wet weather

Isack Hadjar took 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 became trapped in a slipstream group with a group of additional vehicles but was could employ his strong beginning to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life