🔗 Share this article

Despite the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a level head regarding his chances of securing his first world title.

Norris currently has a 24-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of events. However, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the championship.

"It can easily go the opposite way once more even though I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really not worth getting excited or dwelling on it. I continue to do see it as a goal that's quite distant."

Norris has found his best form at a critical moment—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the campaign—while Piastri has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that previously made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of composure all along, insisting even in the face of setbacks—like his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work every outing with the identical unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to try to maintain a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of difficult experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed Piastri to surrender second place to his teammate after he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at both, yet he remained unmoved. "Once you are leading, many people want to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I consider it a good thing," he remarked.

"It amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I really enjoyed it. The experience was very enjoyable. At last you feel like you are achieving success.

"I don't mind, provided that I win. If I feel like I am competing the correct way, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the British team. The layout has similarities with Canada and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the sole pair of circuits this season where the papaya squad have been unable to secure a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the points he requires will come.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Outcomes for Championship Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the times in FP1 on what was remained a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative evening session of FP2, the Briton was quickest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the practice to be ended.

The German Team Announce Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to American billionaire George Kurtz. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as boss and may receive as much as £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.