Lando Norris Moves Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Claims Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped nearer to a maiden world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following Red Bull's Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will secure the championship in the desert as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive 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 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 season 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 difficult performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th after starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his statement that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

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

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

Through two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

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

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris rejoined after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tyres to warm up, soon reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris inquired his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or challenge for the lead

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin increased significantly as the McLaren car began to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Despite losing almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was could hold off George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth win of the season - only one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least mathematically, although he requires issues for Lando Norris in both remaining races to overtake him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Liam Lawson, who was soon eliminated of contention by a damaged front wing

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

The Australian finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who competed almost the entire race on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It was a frustrating race from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would approach the final two races, he commented: "Just try to put myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to favor me now to take the title, but my only option is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams lacking the speed to challenge with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, after his impressive showing to qualify in third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a flying start, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

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