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

Norris currently has a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after pulling off a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"It can easily go the opposite way once more even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, you know. You can also have luck. Other times you also be unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really not worth getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as a goal that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a crucial moment—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the controlled, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of setbacks—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach each session with the identical unwavering attention to detail. 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 two drivers, and it has at times been a rather torturous experience, especially at Monza when the team instructed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team needlessly interfering with their competitors.

Norris has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at both, yet he remained unmoved. "Once you are leading, many individuals want to undermine you. They don't want to see you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It makes me laugh. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really loved it. It was very enjoyable. At last you sense that you're doing something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct way, and I think that's the case, as long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about the rest of it."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where McLaren have been unable to secure at least one podium place, and Norris was cautious again about their chances in Nevada. Still, his task in the short term is straightforward: finish in front of his teammate and the points he needs will follow.

Practice Shows Mixed Outcomes for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc led the times in FP1 on what was still a sandy and extremely low-grip track. Alex Albon was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of running to inspect a reported unsecured manhole cover at turn 17.

The issue is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Confirm Ownership Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. The team principal will remain as boss and may receive as much as £230m from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.