Lando Norris Edges Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

McLaren's Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden world title with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

Norris will secure the title in the desert 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 not finished 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 remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and his team"

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

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

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

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

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

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

But after an forceful cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's attack on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the corner

That enabled Max Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the start when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

Norris stopped five laps following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was able to return still in the lead, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, quickly reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

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

He was told to "go and get Max" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Max Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car began to experience a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Despite 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 - just one behind the two McLaren drivers - was achieved in emphatic style and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to overtake him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to optimize everything we've have," Max Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will know where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being clouted by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of contention by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Strip but also out to Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the pit-stop period

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the whole event on hard tyres after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

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

Asked about how he would approach the final two races, he said: "Simply try to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require quite a lot of things to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth 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 move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his electric start to rescue a point after the poorest qualifying session of his racing life