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Despite all excitement surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head about his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a 24-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the final three events. But, after staging a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind his teammate after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is concentrating on executing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the championship.

"It can quickly go in the other direction once more even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really not worth becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I continue to do see it as something that's quite distant."

Norris has found his peak performance at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the season—while his teammate has shed the controlled, almost flawless composure that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure throughout, insisting even in the face of setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and approach each session with the same unwavering focus on specifics. This approach has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of difficult process, most notably at Monza when the squad instructed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had fallen behind due to a delayed tire change. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and Brazil, and was booed on the podium at both, yet he remained unfazed. "When you're leading, a lot of people want to undermine you. They don't want to see you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I really enjoyed it. It was quite enjoyable. At last you sense that you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. If I feel like I am competing the right way, and I think that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track ideal for the British team. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have failed to secure a single top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Still, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely slippery surface. Alex Albon was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian in eighth. During the more indicative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of running to check a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into the Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Ownership Transaction

Mercedes have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and may receive up to £230 million from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a new high for an F1 team.