🔗 Share this article

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

Norris currently has a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three events. But, after staging a remarkable comeback 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 again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's racing, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can also be unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still do see it as something that remains far away."

Norris has discovered his peak performance at a crucial moment—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the season—while his teammate has shed the disciplined, almost perfect composure that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of composure all along, insisting despite setbacks—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work every outing with the same relentless focus on specifics. This approach has yielded results.

All the while, the team have worked hard to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad instructed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren needlessly manipulating their competitors.

Norris has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at both, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are on top, many people want to bring you down. They do not like seeing you winning. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly loved it. It was quite satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I come out on top. As long as I feel like I am competing the right way, which I feel like I am, so long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, must be conquered, and it is not a track ideal for the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: low downforce, chilly conditions, and low grip. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to claim a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects this weekend. Yet, his task in the immediate future is simple: finish in front of his teammate and the points he requires will follow.

Practice Shows Varied Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was remained a dusty and extremely slippery track. Alex Albon was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and Piastri in eighth. In the more representative evening session of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of running to check a reported loose manhole 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 loose manhole struck the Ferrari, severely damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

Mercedes have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a fifteen percent share in his holding company, representing a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm the tech giant. The team principal will remain as team principal and could earn as much as £230m from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a record for an Formula 1 constructor.