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Despite the hype surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his maiden world title.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just up to 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of events. But, after pulling off a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the championship.

"It can easily turn the opposite way again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can also be unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as a goal that remains far away."

Norris has found his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the controlled, almost perfect composure that previously made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity throughout, insisting despite setbacks—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and work every outing with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, McLaren have gone to no little effort to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed the Australian to surrender second place to his teammate after he had lost the spot because of a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

Norris has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at both, leaving him unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people want to bring you down. They don't want to see you succeeding. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I truly enjoyed it. It was quite enjoyable. You finally sense that you are achieving success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I am competing the right manner, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the British team. The layout has characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have failed to claim at least one podium place, and the leader was cautious once more about their prospects this weekend. Still, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of Piastri and the championship tally he requires will come.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a dusty and very low-grip track. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative night running of second practice, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; however, the session lost almost all of the last third of running to check a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Confirm Stake Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the squad, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230m from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an F1 team.