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Despite the excitement surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor regarding his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

The British driver presently has a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only up to eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. However, after staging a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"It can quickly go in the other direction again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you also have luck. Other times you also be unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I still view it as a goal that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has lost the disciplined, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work every outing with the identical unwavering focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to attempt to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult process, most notably at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was considered the team needlessly manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at each, yet he remained unfazed. "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 remarked.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the podium in Interlagos, I truly loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. You finally feel like you're doing success.

"I don't mind, as long as I win. As long as I believe I'm doing it the right way, and I think I am, as long as I am confident I'm putting hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned about the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, must be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of circuits this season where McLaren have been unable to claim a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of his teammate and the points he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Title Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the times in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian eighth. In the more representative evening session of second practice, the Briton was quickest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to check a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and leading to the practice to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Stake Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as boss and could earn as much as £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an F1 team.