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Amid the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head regarding his prospects of securing his first world title.

The British driver currently has a two-dozen point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of 83 points available across the remaining trio of events. But, after pulling off a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"It can quickly turn the opposite way once more as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's motorsport, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's not worth getting excited or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that's quite far away."

Norris has found his best form at a critical moment—after difficulties with the car in the first part of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the disciplined, nearly perfect ease that had for so long made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity all along, insisting even in the face of challenges—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous process, most notably at Monza when the team directed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are leading, many individuals want to undermine you. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I really loved it. The experience was very satisfying. You finally feel like you're doing something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I win. As long as I believe I am competing the correct manner, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the sole pair of circuits in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to secure a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect again about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of Piastri and the points he needs will come.

Friday Running Sees Varied Outcomes for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the times in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip track. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian in eighth. In the more indicative night running of second practice, Norris was fastest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; however, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to inspect a suspected loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the practice to be ended.

Mercedes Confirm Stake Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as boss and could earn as much as £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an F1 team.