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Amid the hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a level head regarding his chances of securing his first drivers' championship.

The British driver currently holds a 24-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of events. However, after staging a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind Piastri following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on performing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can quickly go the opposite way again even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you get lucky. Other times you end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I still do see it as something that's quite distant."

Norris has found his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while his teammate has shed the disciplined, almost flawless composure that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite challenges—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and approach each session with the identical unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has at times been something of torturous experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed Piastri to surrender second place to Norris following he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're on top, many individuals try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the podium in Interlagos, I really loved it. It was very enjoyable. At last you sense that you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. As long as I believe I'm doing it the right way, which I feel like I am, as long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit ideal for the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have failed to secure a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect again about their chances this weekend. Still, his task in the short term is straightforward: end the race in front of his teammate and the points he requires will come.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title Contenders

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a dusty and very slippery surface. Alex Albon was second, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was quickest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; however, the session was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to check a reported loose manhole cover at turn 17.

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

The German Team Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as boss and could earn up to £230m from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.