🔗 Share this article

Amid the hype surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head regarding his chances of securing his maiden world title.

The British driver currently has a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of 83 points available across the remaining trio of races. But, after pulling off a extraordinary recovery from 34 points behind Piastri following the Zandvoort race in the summer, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that lifted him to the lead of the standings.

"It can easily turn in the other direction again even though I hope it doesn't," he commented. "That's motorsport, as we all know. Sometimes you also have luck. You can also be unlucky. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I continue to view it as something that remains far away."

Norris has discovered his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the car in the opening half of the season—at the same time that Piastri has shed the controlled, almost perfect ease that had for so long made him seem to be a champion in waiting. Notably, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure all along, insisting even in the face of setbacks—such as his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach every outing with the identical relentless focus on specifics. It has paid off.

All the while, the team have gone to no little effort to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their pair of racers, and it has on occasion been something of torturous process, especially at Monza when the squad directed Piastri to surrender the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Some fans were unhappy with what was seen as McLaren needlessly manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at both, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are leading, many people want to undermine you. They don't want to see you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It makes me laugh. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I really loved it. The experience was quite enjoyable. At last you feel like you are achieving something right.

"I don't mind, provided that I win. If I believe I'm doing it the correct way, and I think that's the case, as long as I feel like I am dedicating hard work into being who I am and similar principles, then I am not concerned with the rest of it."

Vegas, on the other hand, needs to be conquered, and it is a circuit suited to the British team. The layout has similarities with Montreal and Baku: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. These are the only two circuits in the current championship where the papaya squad have failed to claim a single top-three finish, and Norris was cautious again about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the short term is straightforward: finish in front of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will come.

Friday Running Shows Varied Results for Championship Contenders

The Ferrari driver topped the times in FP1 on what was still a sandy and very low-grip surface. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and the Australian eighth. During the more representative night running of FP2, the Briton was fastest from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the session was interrupted for almost all of the last third of running to inspect a suspected loose drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is treated with caution on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Las Vegas GP held in 2023, a dislodged drain cover struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and leading to the practice to be aborted.

Mercedes Confirm Stake Sale

Mercedes have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, equating to a five percent ownership in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm CrowdStrike. The team principal will remain as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the deal, with Mercedes having been appraised at £4.57 billion, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.