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Amid the hype around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head regarding his chances of securing his maiden world title.

The British driver presently holds a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only up to eighty-three points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit Piastri after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can quickly turn in the other direction again even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, as we all know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really no point becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still do see it as a goal that's quite far away."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a critical moment—after difficulties with the car in the first part of the season—while his teammate has lost the disciplined, almost perfect composure that had for so long made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has yielded results.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris after he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

Norris has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at both, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are leading, many individuals try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly enjoyed it. It was very satisfying. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I am competing the right way, which I feel like that's the case, so long as I am confident I'm putting hard work into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed with the rest of it."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. It shares similarities with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have failed to secure at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect again about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Title Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the times in first practice on what was still a sandy and very slippery track. Alex Albon was runner-up, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of second practice, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri 14th; though, the session lost nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a suspected loose drain cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the practice to be ended.

The German Team Confirm Stake Sale

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 team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and may receive as much as £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.