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

Norris presently holds a two-dozen point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only up to 83 points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the championship.

"It can easily go the opposite way once more even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you 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 view it as a goal that remains far away."

Norris has found his best form at a crucial juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has lost the controlled, almost perfect composure that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of equanimity throughout, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach every outing with the identical unwavering attention to detail. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to try to preserve a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has at times been something of torturous experience, especially at Monza when the team directed the Australian to surrender second place to his teammate after he had lost the spot because of a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

Norris has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people want to bring you down. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

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

"I don't mind, provided that I win. If I feel like I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like that's the case, so long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have been unable to secure a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects this weekend. Still, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in front of Piastri and the points he needs will follow.

Friday Running Sees Varied Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a sandy and very slippery surface. Alex Albon was second, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. During the more representative evening session of FP2, the Briton was quickest from the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice lost nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to check a reported unsecured manhole cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole struck the Ferrari, severely harming it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.