🔗 Share this article

Amid all hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a level head about his prospects of securing his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris presently has a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after staging a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind Piastri after the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"It can easily go in the other direction once more even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, as we all know. You can also have luck. You can end up unfortunate. Whatever it may be. There's really no point getting excited or dwelling on it. I still view it as something that remains distant."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a critical moment—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has shed the disciplined, nearly perfect composure that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, asserting even in the face of challenges—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work each session with the identical relentless attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to attempt to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad directed Piastri to cede second place to Norris following he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as McLaren unnecessarily manipulating their competitors.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at each, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're leading, a lot of individuals want to bring you down. They don't want to see you winning. I see it as a good thing," he remarked.

"It just makes me laugh. When I was on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I really loved it. It was quite satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving success.

"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the right way, and I think I am, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and those kinds of things, then I am not concerned about external opinions."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be mastered, and it is a circuit suited to the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the only two circuits this season where the papaya squad have failed to claim at least one podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their chances this weekend. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is simple: end the race in ahead of Piastri and the points he needs will come.

Friday Running Shows Mixed Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc led the leaderboard in first practice on what was remained a dusty and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative evening session of second practice, the Briton was fastest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri 14th; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to check a reported unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Nevada GP staged in 2023, a dislodged drain cover struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the squad, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57bn, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.