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Despite all hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head about his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

Norris currently has a 24-point advantage over teammate 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 events. But, after staging a remarkable recovery from a significant deficit his teammate after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the championship.

"It can easily turn in the other direction again even though I don't want it to," he commented. "That's racing, you know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can also be unlucky. No matter what happens. There's really not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to do see it as a goal that remains distant."

Norris has found his peak performance at a crucial juncture—after difficulties with the vehicle in the first part of the season—while Piastri has lost the disciplined, almost perfect ease that previously made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris kept a remarkable level of equanimity all along, insisting even in the face of challenges—such as his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach every outing with the identical unwavering attention to detail. This approach has paid off.

Meanwhile, the team have gone to no little effort to try to maintain a fair competition for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of torturous process, especially at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed Piastri to surrender second place to his teammate after he had lost the spot due to a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was seen as the team needlessly interfering with their competitors.

Norris has won the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was booed on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unmoved. "When you're leading, many individuals try to bring you down. They don't like seeing you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he said.

"It just amuses me. When I was on the podium in Brazil, I really enjoyed it. The experience was quite satisfying. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I come out on top. As long as I feel like I'm doing it the right manner, and I think I am, as long as I feel like I am dedicating effort into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned with external opinions."

Las Vegas, on the other hand, must be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have been unable to claim at least one top-three finish, and the leader was cautious once more about their chances this weekend. Still, his objective in the short term is simple: finish in front of his teammate and the points he needs will follow.

Practice Shows Mixed Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was remained a dusty and extremely low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen in fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and the Australian eighth. In the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest from the Silver Arrows of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate 14th; however, the session was interrupted for nearly the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a reported loose manhole cover at turn 17.

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

The German Team Confirm Ownership Sale

The eight-time constructors' champions have confirmed that their team principal the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. The investor is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as team principal and may receive up to £230 million from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an F1 team.