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Despite the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a level head regarding his chances of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a two-dozen point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to 83 points available across the remaining trio of events. But, after staging a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in the summer, Norris is concentrating on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the championship.

"It can quickly turn in the other direction again even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. You can get lucky. Other times you also be unfortunate. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to view it as a goal that remains distant."

Norris has found his peak performance at a crucial moment—having struggled with the car in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that Piastri has lost the disciplined, almost perfect ease that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of equanimity all along, insisting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work every outing with the identical unwavering attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, the team have worked hard to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has at times been something of difficult experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris after he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at each, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I consider it a positive sign," he remarked.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I truly loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. You finally sense that you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct manner, which I feel like that's the case, so long as I am confident I am dedicating effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is not a track ideal for the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have failed to claim at least one podium place, and Norris was cautious again about their chances this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of his teammate and the points he requires will come.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title Contenders

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and very low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was quickest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for nearly the last third of running to inspect a reported unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

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

Mercedes Announce Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their boss Toto Wolff has divested a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as boss and could earn up to £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.