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Despite all excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head regarding his chances of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver currently has a two-dozen point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of 83 points available across the final three races. But, after staging a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can easily go in the other direction once more even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can end up unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's no point getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as a goal that's quite far away."

Norris has discovered his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the opening half of the season—at the same time that Piastri has lost the controlled, nearly perfect ease that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite challenges—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his strategy and approach every outing with the identical unwavering focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, the team have worked hard to try to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has at times been something of torturous experience, most notably at Monza when the team directed Piastri to cede second place to his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

Norris has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was jeered on the podium at each, leaving him unfazed. "When you're leading, many people want to undermine you. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really loved it. It was very satisfying. At last you sense that you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I believe I am competing the correct way, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the British team. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the sole pair of tracks in the current championship where McLaren have failed to claim a single top-three finish, and the leader was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Yet, his task in the short term is straightforward: finish in front of Piastri and the points he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the times in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen in fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative evening session of second practice, Norris was fastest from the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the session was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to check a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. The team principal will stay on as boss and could earn as much as £230 million from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.