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Amid all hype surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver currently holds a two-dozen point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points available across the final three events. However, after pulling off a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the championship.

"It can easily go in the other direction once more as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still do see it as something that remains distant."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a critical juncture—after difficulties with the car in the opening half of the season—while his teammate has lost the controlled, almost flawless composure that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris kept a impressive level of composure all along, insisting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his strategy and approach every outing with the same unwavering focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, McLaren have gone to no little effort to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has at times been a rather torturous process, especially at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate 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 drivers.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're on top, many individuals try to undermine you. They do not like seeing you winning. I consider it a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I really loved it. The experience was very satisfying. At last you sense that you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I win. If I feel like I am competing the correct manner, which I feel like I am, as long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I am not concerned with the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, must be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. The layout has characteristics with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the only two circuits this season where McLaren have been unable to claim a single top-three finish, and Norris was cautious once more about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is simple: finish in front of his teammate and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Shows Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and very slippery surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative night running of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri 14th; however, the session was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a reported loose manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover struck the Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the session to be ended.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a fifteen percent share in his holding company, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as boss and could earn as much as £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an F1 team.