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Despite the hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor about his chances of securing his first world title.

The British driver currently holds a two-dozen point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of 83 points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after staging a remarkable comeback from a significant deficit Piastri following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction again as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. Sometimes you 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 something that remains distant."

Norris has found his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the season—at the same time that Piastri has shed the controlled, nearly flawless composure that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, asserting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work each session with the identical unwavering attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been a rather torturous experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad directed the Australian to cede second place to Norris following he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans did not take well to what was considered the team unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, yet he remained unfazed. "When you're on top, many individuals try to bring you down. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I really enjoyed it. It was very satisfying. You finally sense that you're doing success.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. As long as I believe I am competing the correct way, which I feel like I am, as long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to secure at least one podium place, and Norris was cautious once more about their prospects this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the points he requires will come.

Friday Running Sees Varied Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the times in FP1 on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative evening session of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the session was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to check a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely harming it and leading to the session to be ended.

The German Team Confirm Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as boss and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.