🔗 Share this article

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

Norris presently holds a two-dozen point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind Piastri following the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily go in the other direction again as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I continue to view it as something that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the car in the first part of the season—at the same time that his teammate has lost the controlled, almost flawless composure that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris kept a remarkable level of composure all along, asserting despite challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and work every outing with the identical unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

All the while, McLaren have gone to no little effort to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at both, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are on top, a lot of people want to undermine you. They don't like seeing you winning. I consider it a good thing," he remarked.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly loved it. It was quite satisfying. You finally sense that you're doing success.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the correct manner, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I am dedicating hard work into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned with the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Baku: low downforce, chilly conditions, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where McLaren have failed to secure at least one top-three finish, and the leader was cautious once more about their prospects this weekend. Still, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in front of his teammate and the points he requires will come.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Title Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the times in first practice on what was still a sandy and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen fourth, Norris in P6, and Piastri eighth. In the more representative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri 14th; though, the practice lost almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to inspect a reported loose manhole cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the session to be ended.

The German Team Confirm Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as boss and may receive as much as £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an F1 team.