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Despite the hype around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head about his prospects of claiming his first world title.

The British driver presently has a two-dozen point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. However, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the championship.

"It can quickly turn the opposite way again even though I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, you know. You can get lucky. Other times you end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I continue to do see it as something that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a crucial moment—after difficulties with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while his teammate has lost the controlled, nearly flawless composure that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of setbacks—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his strategy and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of torturous process, most notably at Monza when the team directed Piastri to surrender second place to Norris following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as McLaren needlessly manipulating their drivers.

Norris has won the last two grands prix, in Mexico and Brazil, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unfazed. "When you're leading, a lot of individuals try to bring you down. They do not want to see you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really enjoyed it. The experience was very satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I win. If I believe I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the only two circuits this season where McLaren have failed to claim a single podium place, and the leader was cautious once more about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the times in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. During the more representative night running of second practice, the Briton was quickest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the session lost almost all of the last third of running to check a reported loose drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and leading to the practice to be ended.

Mercedes Confirm Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his holding company, equating to a five percent ownership in the squad, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.