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Despite the hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a calm demeanor regarding his chances of securing his maiden world title.

Norris currently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of races. But, after staging a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind his teammate after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily go in the other direction once more as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, you know. You can get lucky. You can end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to do see it as something that remains far away."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a crucial juncture—having struggled with the car in the first part of the season—at the same time that Piastri has shed the disciplined, nearly flawless composure that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure all along, insisting even in the face of challenges—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, McLaren have gone to no little effort to attempt to maintain a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, most notably at Monza when the team directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered the team needlessly manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at both, leaving him unmoved. "When you're on top, a lot of people want to undermine you. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I really enjoyed it. It was quite enjoyable. You finally feel like you're doing something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. If I believe I'm doing it the correct way, and I think that's the case, so long as I feel like I'm putting hard work into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. It shares similarities with Montreal and Azerbaijan: low downforce, chilly conditions, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two circuits this season where McLaren have been unable to secure a single podium place, and the leader was cautious once more about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his task in the short term is simple: end the race in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Championship Contenders

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in first practice on what was still a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. Alex Albon was second, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. During the more indicative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest from the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; though, the session lost almost all of the last third of track time to inspect a suspected unsecured manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole struck the Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.