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Despite the hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head about his chances of claiming his first world title.

The British driver currently holds a two-dozen point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of 83 points available across the final three races. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind Piastri following the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is concentrating on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the championship.

"Things can easily go the opposite way again even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still do see it as a goal that's quite far away."

Norris has found his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has shed the disciplined, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris kept a impressive level of equanimity throughout, asserting despite setbacks—such as his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his strategy and work every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. This approach has paid off.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to attempt to maintain a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous process, most notably at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

Norris has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people try to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly loved it. The experience was very enjoyable. At last you sense that you're doing something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I win. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct way, which I feel like that's the case, so long as I feel like I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track suited to the British team. The layout has characteristics with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two tracks in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to secure a single top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect again about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in front of Piastri and the points he requires will follow.

Friday Running Shows Varied Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely slippery surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more indicative night running of second practice, the Briton was quickest ahead of the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri 14th; however, the session lost nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a reported 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 loose manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the session to be ended.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

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