🔗 Share this article

Despite all hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor regarding his chances of claiming his maiden world title.

The British driver currently has a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily go in the other direction again as much as I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, as we all know. You can get lucky. You can end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really not worth becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I continue to view it as a goal that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has lost the disciplined, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure all along, asserting despite challenges—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the identical relentless focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to try to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has at times been a rather torturous process, especially at Monza when the squad instructed the Australian to surrender second place to Norris following he had fallen behind because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered the team needlessly interfering with their competitors.

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 both, leaving him unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people want to bring you down. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really enjoyed it. It was very satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving success.

"I don't mind, as long as I come out on top. If I believe I am competing the correct manner, and I think I am, so long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. It shares similarities with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two tracks this season where the papaya squad have been unable to claim a single podium place, and Norris was cautious once more about their chances in Nevada. Still, his objective in the short term is straightforward: finish in ahead of his teammate and the points he needs will come.

Practice Shows Mixed Results for Championship Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely low-grip surface. Alex Albon was runner-up, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the session was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to check a suspected loose manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, heavily harming it and causing the practice to be ended.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his holding company, representing a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. The team principal will remain as boss and may receive as much as £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an F1 team.