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Amid all hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head regarding his chances of securing his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver presently holds a two-dozen point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of 83 points up for grabs across the remaining trio of events. But, after pulling off a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit Piastri after the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the championship.

"Things can easily turn in the other direction once more even though I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unfortunate. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as something that remains far away."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a critical moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the season—while his teammate has shed the controlled, almost flawless ease that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, insisting despite challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach every outing with the same relentless attention to detail. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has at times been a rather torturous experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed the Australian to surrender the runner-up spot to Norris following he had lost the spot because of a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, yet he remained unmoved. "Once you are on top, a lot of people want to undermine you. They don't want to see you succeeding. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly loved it. It was very satisfying. You finally feel like you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. If I feel like I'm doing it the correct manner, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into remaining true to myself and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be mastered, and it is not a track ideal for the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Azerbaijan: low downforce, chilly conditions, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have been unable to secure at least one top-three finish, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in FP1 on what was still a sandy and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and Piastri in eighth. In the more indicative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the last third of track time to check a suspected loose drain cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is taken seriously on a temporary track where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and leading to the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Ownership Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, representing a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will remain as team principal and could earn as much as £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.