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

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to his first championship with runner-up position in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar this coming weekend

Norris will secure the title in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

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

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

"It remains a positive outcome to get second. I've got to congratulate Max and Red Bull"

Following Qatar, the last event 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 continued his momentum towards the title despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

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

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

From the beginning, Norris was true to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to protect his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But after an forceful move in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Verstappen's attack on the inner line, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to drive past into the lead while the British driver lost second place to Russell

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

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

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

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

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to allow his tyres to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren started to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the size of the lead he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the season - only one less than the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and keeps him in championship contention, at least theoretically, although he needs problems for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to optimize all we've have," Max Verstappen said

"During the coming events we will attempt to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He followed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on hard tyres following pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the best position I can. I obviously require quite a lot of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth position, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Isack Hadjar took eighth ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a flying start, rising to 13th on the first lap and continued to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a bunch of other cars but was able to use his strong beginning to salvage a point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life