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Amid the hype around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris currently has a two-dozen point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points available across the remaining trio of events. However, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can quickly go the opposite way once more as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that remains distant."

Norris has found his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the car in the opening half of the season—at the same time that his teammate has shed the controlled, almost flawless ease that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of composure throughout, asserting despite challenges—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has yielded results.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to maintain a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous process, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to Norris after 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 claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at both, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are on top, a lot of individuals try to undermine you. They don't want to see you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It amuses me. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I truly loved it. The experience was very enjoyable. You finally sense that you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am 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 a circuit ideal for the British team. It shares similarities with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have been unable to claim at least one podium place, and the leader was circumspect once more about their chances in Nevada. Still, his objective in the short term is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he requires will come.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title Rivals

Charles Leclerc led the times in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely slippery surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. In the more indicative evening session of second practice, Norris was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri 14th; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the last third of running to inspect a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the practice to be ended.

The German Team Confirm Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as boss and may receive as much as £230m from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an F1 team.