Norris Moves Closer to Title as Verstappen Claims Vegas Grand Prix Win

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

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will win the title in the Qatar as long as he does not lose over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

The Australian driver, so strong in the opening stages of the season, has failed to finish on the top three for six races

"Verstappen had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was too punchy on that first turn," said Norris

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

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 were:

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

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

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

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

From the beginning, Lando Norris was true to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he fought hard to protect his advantage from pole position from Verstappen

However following an aggressive move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

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

During two virtual safety cars for several opening-lap incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gradually established dominance on the event

Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the lead, Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull even with his fresher tyres

Lando Norris rejoined after Russell from his stop but after a several careful circuits to let his tires to settle, soon closed his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should accept second place or attack

He was instructed to "go and get Verstappen" but it soon became clear he had no chance. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the margin extended substantially as the McLaren car started to suffer a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - only one less than both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at least theoretically, even if he needs problems for Lando Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm very proud of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started in fifth but lost two positions on the opening lap following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was soon taken out of contention by a damaged nose section

He followed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Las Vegas Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could overtake again during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on replays

"It proved to be a frustrating race from essentially beginning to end in certain respects," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would approach the remaining events, he commented: "Just attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly require several of factors to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to take advantage if circumstances change"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth position, not close enough to gain from Antonelli's time penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh at the flag, his Williams missing the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, up to thirteenth on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a bunch of other cars but was could use his strong beginning to rescue a point after the worst qualifying session of his racing life