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Amid all hype surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a calm demeanor about his prospects of securing his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris currently has a two-dozen point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only up to eighty-three points available across the final three events. But, after staging a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"Things can easily turn in the other direction again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still do see it as a goal that's quite distant."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the first part of the season—at the same time that his teammate has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris kept a impressive level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of setbacks—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his strategy and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have gone to no little effort to try to maintain a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, most notably at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris following he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as the team unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are 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 makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Brazil, I truly loved it. The experience was quite satisfying. At last you sense that you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I believe I am competing the correct way, and I think that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is a circuit ideal for the McLaren. It shares similarities with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to secure a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect again about their prospects this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in front of his teammate and the points he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the times in first practice on what was remained a sandy and very low-grip track. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri eighth. In the more indicative evening session of FP2, Norris was quickest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the practice lost nearly the last third of track time to inspect a reported unsecured drain cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, representing a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as boss and could earn up to £230m from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.