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Amid all hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head regarding his prospects of securing his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver currently has a two-dozen point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to 83 points available across the final three races. However, after staging a extraordinary recovery from a significant deficit Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily turn the opposite way again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, you know. You can get lucky. You can end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as a goal that's quite distant."

Norris has found his best form at a critical moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the controlled, nearly flawless ease that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, insisting even in the face of challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has yielded results.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to try to preserve a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed Piastri to cede second place to Norris following he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

Norris has won the last two races, in Mexico and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are leading, a lot of people try to bring you down. They don't want to see you winning. I consider it a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really loved it. The experience was very satisfying. You finally feel like you're doing something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like I am, so long as I am confident I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, must be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have been unable to claim a single top-three finish, and the leader was circumspect again about their prospects this weekend. Still, his objective in the immediate future is simple: end the race in front of Piastri and the points he needs will come.

Friday Running Sees Varied Outcomes for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a sandy and extremely low-grip surface. Alex Albon was second, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian eighth. During the more indicative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice lost nearly the final 20 minutes of running to check a reported loose drain cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and causing the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.