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Despite all excitement surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his first world title.

The British driver currently has a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of 83 points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a extraordinary recovery from a significant deficit Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is concentrating on executing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction once more as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. You can also have luck. You can also be unlucky. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I continue to do see it as a goal that's quite far away."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has shed the disciplined, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity throughout, asserting despite setbacks—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach each session with the identical relentless attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of torturous experience, especially at Monza when the squad instructed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to Norris after he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered the team needlessly manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at each, leaving him unfazed. "When you're on top, many people want to bring you down. They do not want to see you succeeding. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I truly loved it. The experience was quite satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I win. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the correct manner, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. It shares similarities with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the sole pair of circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to claim a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is simple: finish in ahead of Piastri and the points he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the times in first practice on what was remained a dusty and very low-grip surface. Alex Albon was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian eighth. During the more representative evening session of second practice, Norris was quickest from the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice lost almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to inspect a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and causing the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Confirm Ownership Transaction

Mercedes have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as boss and may receive as much as £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.