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Despite the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head regarding his chances of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only up to eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three events. However, after staging a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"It can easily go the opposite way once more even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can also be unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's no point getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as a goal that's quite far away."

Norris has found his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has lost the disciplined, almost flawless composure that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach every outing with the identical relentless focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has at times been a rather torturous experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed the Australian to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

Norris has won the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are on top, a lot of individuals want to undermine you. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Brazil, I truly enjoyed it. The experience was quite satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, as long as I win. As long as I feel like I am competing the correct way, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting hard work into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed about the rest of it."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is not a track ideal for the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to secure at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Still, his objective in the immediate future is simple: end the race in front of his teammate and the points he requires will come.

Friday Running Sees Varied Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a dusty and very low-grip track. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian eighth. During the more indicative evening session of FP2, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with Piastri 14th; however, the session lost nearly the last third of track time to check a reported unsecured manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, severely damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor 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 the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.