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Amid the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head about his prospects of securing his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points available across the final three events. However, after pulling off a extraordinary comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the championship.

"It can quickly go in the other direction again even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, you know. You can get lucky. Other times you also be unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still view it as something that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a crucial moment—after difficulties with the car in the opening half of the season—while Piastri has lost the controlled, almost flawless composure that had for so long made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach every outing with the identical relentless focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has at times been a rather difficult experience, especially at Monza when the team instructed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris following he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team needlessly manipulating their competitors.

Norris has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, yet he remained unfazed. "When you're on top, many people want to undermine you. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I really loved it. It was quite enjoyable. You finally sense that you are achieving success.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct way, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned with the rest of it."

Vegas, meanwhile, must be mastered, and it is not a track ideal for the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have been unable to secure a single top-three finish, and Norris was cautious again about their prospects this weekend. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is simple: end the race in ahead of Piastri and the points he requires will come.

Friday Running Sees Mixed Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and very low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of second practice, Norris was quickest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with Piastri 14th; though, the practice lost nearly 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 held in 2023, a dislodged manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Confirm Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon George Kurtz. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and may receive as much as £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.