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Despite the hype surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head about his chances of claiming his first world title.

Norris presently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only up to 83 points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from a significant deficit his teammate following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"Things can easily turn the opposite way again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as something that's quite distant."

Norris has found his best form at a critical moment—after difficulties with the car in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has lost the disciplined, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting even in the face of challenges—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to try to preserve a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult experience, most notably at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

Norris has claimed victory in the previous pair of races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are on top, a lot of people try to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. You finally feel like you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. As long as I believe I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like I am, as long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned with the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is not a track ideal for the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the sole pair of circuits this season where the papaya squad have failed to secure a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the points he requires will follow.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris in P6, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative evening session of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for nearly the last third of track time to check a suspected unsecured manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a loose manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Wolff will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.