🔗 Share this article

Despite all excitement around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head regarding his prospects of claiming his first world title.

Norris presently holds a 24-point lead 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 staging a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix in the summer, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"Things can quickly turn the opposite way again as much as I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can also be unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really no point getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as something that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has discovered his best form at a critical moment—having struggled with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has shed the disciplined, almost flawless composure that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure all along, asserting even in the face of setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach each session with the same relentless attention to detail. It has paid off.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed the Australian to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was considered McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their drivers.

Norris has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at both, leaving him unfazed. "When you're on top, a lot of individuals want to bring you down. They don't want to see you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly loved it. It was quite satisfying. You finally sense that you are achieving 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 am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track ideal for the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the sole pair of tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to claim at least one podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Still, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will come.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Results for Title Contenders

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was remained a sandy and extremely low-grip track. Alex Albon was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris sixth, and the Australian in eighth. During the more indicative night running of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the practice lost nearly the final 20 minutes of running to check a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose manhole smashed into the Ferrari, heavily damaging it and leading to the practice to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as boss and may receive up to £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a record for an F1 team.