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Amid the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a calm demeanor regarding his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after staging a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit Piastri after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"It can quickly go in the other direction again as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. You can also be unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really not worth 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 juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the season—at the same time that his teammate has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite challenges—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and work each session with the same relentless attention to detail. 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 his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has won the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are on top, many individuals want to bring you down. They do not want to see you succeeding. I consider it a positive sign," he remarked.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I really loved it. It was quite satisfying. At last you sense that you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. If I believe I am competing the correct way, and I think I am, so long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the British team. It shares similarities with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks this season where the papaya squad have failed to claim a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect again about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the short term is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will come.

Friday Running Sees Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip track. Alex Albon was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian in eighth. During the more representative evening session of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the session lost almost all of the last third of track time to inspect a reported loose manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, heavily harming it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Ownership Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm the tech giant. Wolff will remain as team principal and may receive as much as £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.