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Despite the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor regarding his chances of securing his first drivers' championship.

Norris currently holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points available across the final three races. However, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from a significant deficit Piastri after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is concentrating on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"It can quickly go the opposite way again as much as I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, you know. You can get lucky. Other times you also be unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really no point getting excited or thinking about it. I still do see it as a goal that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has shed the controlled, nearly perfect composure that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure throughout, insisting even in the face of setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work every outing with the same relentless attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, the team have worked hard to try 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 squad instructed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Certain spectators did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at both, yet he remained unfazed. "When you're leading, many people want to bring you down. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly enjoyed it. It was quite enjoyable. You finally sense that you are achieving success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I believe I am competing the correct way, and I think I am, so long as I feel like I'm putting effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the British team. The layout has similarities with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two tracks in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to claim a single podium place, and the leader was cautious once more about their prospects this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is simple: finish in front of Piastri and the points he needs will follow.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was remained a sandy and very low-grip track. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative evening session of FP2, the Briton was quickest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the last third of track time to inspect a suspected loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and causing the session to be ended.

Mercedes Confirm Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm the tech giant. The team principal will remain as team principal and could earn 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.