🔗 Share this article

Amid all excitement surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a calm demeanor about his prospects of claiming his first world title.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a remarkable comeback from a significant deficit Piastri following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"It can easily turn in the other direction once more even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, you know. You can also have luck. You can end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. It's not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I still do see it as a goal that remains distant."

The 26-year-old has discovered his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—while Piastri has lost the controlled, almost flawless composure that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity all along, asserting even in the face of setbacks—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and work every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. It has yielded results.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to preserve a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous process, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed Piastri to surrender second place to Norris after he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at each, leaving him unfazed. "Once you are on top, a lot of people try to bring you down. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I consider it a positive sign," he said.

"It amuses me. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I really loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. At last you feel like you're doing something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. If I believe I am competing the correct way, which I feel like I am, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed with the rest of it."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, must be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have been unable to claim a single top-three finish, and Norris was cautious again about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the short term is simple: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will come.

Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Championship Contenders

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a dusty and very slippery surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of second practice, Norris was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the session lost nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to check a reported unsecured drain cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose drain cover struck the Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the session to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

Mercedes 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 squad, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will stay on as boss and could earn up to £230m from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.