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Amid all hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor regarding his prospects of claiming his maiden world title.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only up to 83 points available across the final three events. But, after pulling off a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind Piastri after the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the lead of the standings.

"Things can quickly go in the other direction again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, you know. You can get lucky. You can also be unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that's quite far away."

The 26-year-old has discovered his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the car in the first part of the campaign—while Piastri has lost the disciplined, nearly perfect ease that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity throughout, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and work each session with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has paid off.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to try to maintain a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been a rather difficult experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris following he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was considered McLaren needlessly interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at each, leaving him unfazed. "When you're leading, many people want to bring you down. They do not like seeing you winning. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It just makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Brazil, I really enjoyed it. The experience was very enjoyable. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I feel like I am competing the correct manner, and I think that's the case, as long as I feel like I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Baku: low downforce, chilly conditions, and low grip. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have been unable to secure at least one podium place, and the leader was cautious again about their prospects this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of Piastri and the championship tally he requires will come.

Practice Shows Varied Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a sandy and very low-grip track. Alex Albon was runner-up, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more indicative evening session of FP2, Norris was fastest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; though, the session lost almost all of the last third of track time to inspect a reported unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the practice to be ended.

The German Team Announce Ownership Transaction

Mercedes have revealed that their boss Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as team principal and could earn as much as £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a record for an F1 team.