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Amid the excitement around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver currently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only up to eighty-three points available across the final three races. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit Piastri following the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, as we all know. You can get lucky. Other times you end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. It's not worth becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that's quite distant."

Norris has discovered his best form at a crucial moment—after difficulties with the car in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has shed the controlled, almost perfect ease that previously made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of composure all along, insisting even in the face of challenges—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the identical unwavering attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to maintain a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has at times been a rather difficult process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed Piastri to cede second place to his teammate after he had fallen behind due to a delayed tire change. Certain spectators did not take well to what was seen as McLaren needlessly manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at each, yet he remained unmoved. "Once you are on top, a lot of individuals try to bring you down. They do not want to see you succeeding. I consider it a positive sign," he said.

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

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I win. As long as I believe I am competing the right way, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of circuits this season where McLaren have been unable to secure at least one podium place, and the leader was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is simple: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he needs will come.

Practice Shows Varied Results for Championship Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard 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 Piastri in eighth. During the more indicative evening session of FP2, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; however, the session lost nearly the last third of track time to inspect a reported unsecured manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into the 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 divested a 15% stake in his holding company, representing a 5% share in the squad, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.