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Despite all excitement surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a calm demeanor regarding his chances of claiming his maiden world title.

The British driver presently has a two-dozen point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can quickly go in the other direction again even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you also be unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as something that's quite far away."

Norris has found his peak performance at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—while his teammate has shed the controlled, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of equanimity all along, asserting despite setbacks—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach every outing with the identical relentless attention to detail. It has paid off.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous process, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has won the last two races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at both, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're on top, many individuals want to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I really enjoyed it. It was quite satisfying. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I am competing the right manner, and I think that's the case, so long as I am confident I'm putting hard work into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. It shares similarities with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to claim at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is simple: finish in ahead of Piastri and the points he needs will come.

Practice Shows Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

Charles Leclerc led the times in first practice on what was still a sandy and extremely slippery track. Alex Albon was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and the Australian in eighth. In the more indicative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the last third of track time to inspect a suspected loose drain cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as team principal and may receive up to £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.