🔗 Share this article F1 Leader Norris Remains Guarded In Spite Of Las Vegas Grand Prix Title Lead Despite all hype surrounding the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head regarding his prospects of claiming his maiden world title. Norris presently holds a 24-point lead over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with just a maximum of eighty-three points up for grabs across the final three races. However, 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 lead of the standings. "It can easily go in the other direction once more as much as I don't want it to," he stated. "That's racing, you know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unfortunate. No matter what happens. There's really not worth becoming overjoyed or dwelling on it. I still view it as a goal 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 season—at the same time that Piastri has shed the disciplined, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure all along, asserting despite challenges—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his gameplan and work each session with the identical relentless attention to detail. It has yielded results. Meanwhile, the team have gone to no little effort to try to maintain a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult process, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the team directed Piastri to cede the runner-up spot to his teammate following he had fallen behind due to a slow pit stop. Some fans did not take well to what was seen as the team unnecessarily interfering with their drivers. Norris has claimed victory in the last two races, in Mexico and São Paulo, and was booed on the podium at each, yet he remained unmoved. "When you're leading, a lot of individuals try to undermine you. They don't want to see you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked. "It just makes me laugh. When I was on the winner's stage in Brazil, I truly enjoyed it. It was quite satisfying. At last you sense that you're doing something right. "I don't mind, as long as I win. As long as I believe I'm doing it the right way, and I think that's the case, as long as I am confident I'm putting 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 suited to the British team. The layout has similarities with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the sole pair of circuits in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to claim a single top-three finish, and the leader was cautious once more about their chances this weekend. Still, his objective in the short term is simple: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the points he requires will come. Practice Sees Mixed Outcomes for Championship Rivals Charles Leclerc topped the times in first practice on what was remained a dusty and very low-grip track. Alex Albon was second, with the Red Bull star fourth, Norris in P6, and the Australian eighth. In the more representative evening session of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; though, the session lost almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to inspect a suspected loose drain cover at the penultimate corner. This problem is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a loose drain cover struck Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and leading to the practice to be aborted. The German Team Announce Stake Sale Mercedes have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has divested a 15% stake in his investment firm, representing a five percent ownership in the team, to US tycoon George Kurtz. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the cybersecurity company the tech giant. Wolff will remain as team principal and could earn as much as £230m from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.