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

Norris currently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. But, after staging a extraordinary comeback from 34 points behind his teammate following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on executing with the clinical precision that propelled him to the top of the standings.

"Things can easily go in the other direction again even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. There's really no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I still do see it as something that's quite distant."

Norris has discovered his best form at a critical moment—after difficulties with the vehicle in the opening half of the season—at the same time that Piastri has shed the disciplined, nearly perfect composure that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity throughout, insisting even in the face of challenges—like his withdrawal from the Zandvoort race—that he would adhere to his gameplan and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have gone to no little effort to attempt to preserve a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous experience, especially at Monza when the squad directed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had lost the spot because of a delayed tire change. Certain spectators did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily interfering with their drivers.

The championship leader has claimed victory in the last two grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the podium at each, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are leading, many individuals try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you succeeding. I see it as a good thing," he said.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I really loved it. The experience was very enjoyable. You finally feel like you're doing success.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. If I believe I am competing the right way, and I think that's the case, as 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."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit ideal for the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Baku: low downforce, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. They are the only two circuits in the current championship where McLaren have failed to claim a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their prospects in Nevada. Yet, his task in the immediate future is straightforward: finish in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he needs will follow.

Practice Sees Varied Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the times in first practice on what was still a sandy and extremely slippery track. The Williams racer was second, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian in eighth. In the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; however, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the last third of track time to check a suspected unsecured manhole cover at the penultimate corner.

The issue is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the inaugural Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose manhole struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be ended.

Mercedes Announce Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their boss the Austrian executive 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 chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as boss and could earn as much as £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a record for an F1 team.