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Despite the excitement surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver presently holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of 83 points available across the final three events. However, after staging a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily turn in the other direction again as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. You can get lucky. Other times you end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really no point getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as a goal that remains distant."

Norris has discovered his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the season—at the same time that his teammate has shed the controlled, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work each session with the same relentless focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of difficult process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris following he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at each, yet he remained unfazed. "When you're on top, a lot of individuals want to undermine you. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly loved it. It was very satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, as long as I win. If I believe I'm doing it the right manner, which I feel like I am, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned about the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track ideal for the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to secure a single top-three finish, and the leader was cautious again about their chances this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is simple: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a sandy and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen fourth, Norris in P6, and Piastri eighth. During the more representative evening session of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri 14th; though, the session was interrupted for nearly the last third of track time to inspect a suspected loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the session to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Stake Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as boss and may receive up to £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an F1 team.