🔗 Share this article

Despite the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is maintaining a level head regarding his chances of claiming his first world title.

Norris presently holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with only a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind Piastri following the Dutch Grand Prix in the summer, Norris is concentrating on performing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the top of the championship.

"Things can easily turn the opposite way once more even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. You can get lucky. Other times you also be unfortunate. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to do see it as something that's quite far away."

The 26-year-old has discovered his best form at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has lost the disciplined, almost flawless composure that previously made him seem to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a remarkable level of equanimity throughout, asserting despite setbacks—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and work each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to try to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather torturous experience, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team instructed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators did not take well to what was considered McLaren needlessly manipulating their drivers.

Norris has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at each, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are leading, many individuals try to undermine you. They do not want to see you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the podium in Interlagos, I truly loved it. It was quite satisfying. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. As long as I feel like I am competing the correct manner, which I feel like I am, so long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed with the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks in the current championship where McLaren have failed to secure at least one podium place, and the leader 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 needs will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Title Rivals

The Ferrari driver led the times in FP1 on what was still a sandy and very slippery surface. Alex Albon was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. During the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was quickest ahead of the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the practice lost nearly the final 20 minutes of running to check a reported loose manhole cover at turn 17.

This problem is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a loose drain cover struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely harming it and leading to the session to be aborted.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a five percent ownership in the team, to American billionaire George Kurtz. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm the tech giant. The team principal will remain as boss and could earn up to £230 million from the sale, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.