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Amid the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver presently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of races. But, after staging a extraordinary recovery from a significant deficit Piastri following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the championship.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction again even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, you know. Sometimes you also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's not worth becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that remains far away."

Norris has found his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has lost the disciplined, nearly flawless composure that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite setbacks—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. This approach has paid off.

All the while, the team have worked hard to try to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been something of difficult experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unfazed. "When you're leading, many people try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Interlagos, I truly loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. You finally sense that you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the correct way, which I feel like I am, as long as I am confident I am dedicating effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed about the rest of it."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track ideal for the British team. It shares similarities with Montreal and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two circuits in the current championship where McLaren have failed to claim at least one podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is simple: finish in front of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will follow.

Practice Shows Mixed Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely slippery surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen fourth, Norris sixth, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of second practice, Norris was quickest from the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the session lost nearly the last third of track time to inspect a reported loose drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, heavily harming it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, equating to a five percent ownership in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. 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.