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Despite all excitement around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a calm demeanor about his prospects of securing his maiden world title.

Norris presently holds a two-dozen point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points available across the final three events. But, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from a significant deficit Piastri following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction once more as much as I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. You can get lucky. You can end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still view it as a goal that's quite far away."

Norris has found his best form at a crucial moment—having struggled with the car in the first part of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the disciplined, almost flawless composure that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work each session with the same relentless attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have gone to no little effort to try to maintain a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been something of difficult experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad directed Piastri to cede second place to Norris after he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and Brazil, and was booed on the podium at each, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are leading, a lot of people want to bring you down. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Brazil, I truly enjoyed it. It was very satisfying. At last you feel like you're doing something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. As long as I believe I'm doing it the correct way, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the only two circuits in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to secure at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in front of Piastri and the points he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. Alex Albon was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian in eighth. In the more indicative evening session of FP2, the Briton was quickest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the session lost nearly the last third of track time to inspect a suspected loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Nevada GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will stay on as boss and may receive up to £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a new high for an F1 team.