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Despite all hype around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head about his prospects of securing his maiden world title.

Norris currently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only up to 83 points up for grabs across the final three events. However, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix 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 even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's motorsport, as we all know. You can also have luck. You can end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's not worth getting excited or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has shed the disciplined, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity throughout, insisting despite setbacks—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of difficult process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris after he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

Norris has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at both, leaving him unfazed. "When you're on top, many people want to bring you down. They do not like seeing you winning. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly enjoyed it. It was very enjoyable. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

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

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have failed to secure at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will come.

Friday Running Sees Varied Outcomes for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian eighth. During the more representative night running of second practice, Norris was quickest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the session was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to check a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be ended.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a 5% share in the squad, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. The team principal will remain as team principal 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 F1 team.