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Despite all excitement surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor about his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a two-dozen point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three events. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"It can quickly go in the other direction once more even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. No matter what happens. It's no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still do see it as a goal that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a critical moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity throughout, asserting even in the face of challenges—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the identical unwavering focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have worked hard to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has at times been something of difficult process, most notably at Monza when the squad directed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to Norris after he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was considered McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at each, leaving him unfazed. "When you're on top, a lot of individuals try to undermine you. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

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

"I don't mind, provided that I come out on top. As long as I feel like I am competing the right way, and I think I am, so long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to claim at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect again about their chances this weekend. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will come.

Practice Sees Varied Outcomes for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a dusty and very slippery surface. Alex Albon was runner-up, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian eighth. During the more indicative evening session of second practice, the Briton was quickest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; though, the session lost nearly the final 20 minutes of running to inspect a reported unsecured manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole struck the Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Stake Sale

Mercedes have confirmed that their team principal the Austrian executive has sold a fifteen percent share in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as boss and may receive up to £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.