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Despite the hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his first world title.

The British driver currently has a two-dozen point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after pulling off a extraordinary comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"Things can quickly go in the other direction again even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you also be unlucky. Whatever it may be. It's not worth becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to view it as something that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has discovered his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the vehicle in the first part of the season—at the same time that his teammate has lost the controlled, nearly perfect ease that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting despite challenges—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work every outing with the same relentless attention to detail. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed Piastri to cede second place to Norris after he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was seen as McLaren needlessly interfering with their drivers.

Norris has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at each, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people want to undermine you. They do not want to see you succeeding. I consider it a good thing," he remarked.

"It makes me laugh. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly loved it. The experience was very satisfying. At last you feel like you're doing something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct way, and I think I am, as long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the British team. The layout has similarities with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to secure a single podium place, and the leader was circumspect again about their chances this weekend. Still, his objective in the short term is simple: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the points he needs will come.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Championship Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri eighth. During the more indicative evening session of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice lost almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to check a suspected loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into the Ferrari, severely harming it and leading to the session to be ended.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

Mercedes have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm the tech giant. The team principal will remain as boss and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.