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Despite the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head regarding his chances of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

The British driver presently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just up to 83 points available across the final three events. But, after staging a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind his teammate after the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is focused on executing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the top of the championship.

"It can easily go in the other direction once more as much as I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's racing, you know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as something that's quite far away."

Norris has found his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the season—while Piastri has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that previously made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure throughout, insisting despite challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

All the while, McLaren have worked hard to try to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has at times been a rather torturous process, most notably at Monza when the squad instructed the Australian to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate after he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was considered the team needlessly interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the previous pair of races, in Mexico and Brazil, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at both, yet he remained unmoved. "Once you are leading, a lot of people want to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I consider it a good thing," he said.

"It just makes me laugh. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly loved it. It was very satisfying. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I win. If I feel like I'm doing it the right way, which I feel like that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."

Las Vegas, meanwhile, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit ideal for the McLaren. The layout has similarities with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the only two tracks this season where McLaren have failed to claim at least one top-three finish, and Norris was cautious once more about their chances in Nevada. Still, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver topped the times in first practice on what was remained a sandy and very low-grip track. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen in fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian eighth. During the more indicative night running of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the practice lost nearly the last third of running to check a suspected unsecured drain cover at the penultimate corner.

This problem is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the first Las Vegas GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover struck the Ferrari, severely damaging it and leading to the session to be aborted.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. Wolff will stay on as team principal and could earn as much as £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.