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

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to a maiden championship with second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

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

The Briton will secure the title 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 first half of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six races

"Max had a good race. I made the mistake at the beginning and was too punchy on that opening corner," stated Norris

"It's still a good result to get second. I've got to praise Max and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the championship follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The main developments of one of Formula 1's most prestigious races were:

• Norris continued his progress towards the championship despite the victory to Max Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's challenging performance streak continued as his championship chances diminish

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

• Recoveries for the two Ferrari drivers, following a tough qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place following starting at the rear

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

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

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the first place while Norris also the runner-up spot to George Russell

Through two VSC periods for several opening-lap incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually established dominance on the race

Russell undertook an early tire change for the more durable compound, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

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

The Red Bull driver was able to rejoin still in the lead, Russell having been unable to catch up on the Red Bull car despite his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a several careful circuits to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his 3.3-second gap to the Mercedes and overtook into second place on lap 34

Norris inquired his engineer how to manage the rest of his race, effectively questioning whether he should settle for second place or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "go and get Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Max Verstappen was readily could defend against Lando's attacks, and in the final laps the gap increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has so far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a circuit, Lando Norris was able to hold off Russell because of the size of the advantage he had built while chasing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one less than the two McLaren drivers - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in championship contention, at minimum theoretically, even if he needs problems for 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 stated

"In upcoming weekends we will attempt to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm very proud of everyone"

Oscar Piastri began fifth but dropped two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Liam Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a damaged front wing

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but lost out to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who competed nearly the entire race on the durable compound after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not clearly visible on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Piastri told BBC Radio 5 Live

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need quite a lot of factors to favor me at this stage to win, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz dropped to seventh at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his impressive showing to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth ahead of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg and Hamilton

The seven-time title winner made a strong getaway, up to thirteenth on the first lap and proceeded to move forwards

He got stuck in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was could use his electric start to rescue a championship point after the poorest qualifying performance of his racing life