🔗 Share this article

Amid the hype around the Sin City Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is maintaining a calm demeanor regarding his chances of claiming his first drivers' championship.

The British driver currently holds a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and leads Max Verstappen by nearly fifty points, with only up to 83 points available across the final three events. However, after staging a extraordinary comeback from a significant deficit his teammate following the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Norris is focused on performing with the methodical approach that propelled him to the lead of the standings.

"It can quickly go in the other direction once more as much as I don't want it to," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can also be unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's not worth getting excited or thinking about it. I still view it as something that's quite distant."

The 26-year-old has found his best form at a critical juncture—having struggled with the vehicle in the opening half of the season—while Piastri has lost the controlled, nearly flawless ease that had for so long made him appear to be a champion in waiting. Importantly, Norris maintained a impressive level of composure throughout, asserting even in the face of setbacks—like his retirement from the Dutch GP—that he would stick to his strategy and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has yielded results.

All the while, the team have worked hard to attempt to maintain a level playing field for their two drivers, and it has at times been something of torturous experience, most notably at the Italian Grand Prix when the squad directed Piastri to cede second place to his teammate after he had lost the spot due to a delayed tire change. Certain spectators did not take well to what was considered McLaren needlessly manipulating their drivers.

The championship leader has won the previous pair of races, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was jeered on the winner's rostrum at both, leaving him unmoved. "Once you are on top, a lot of individuals want to bring you down. They do not want to see you winning. I see it as a positive sign," he remarked.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the podium in Brazil, I truly loved it. The experience was very satisfying. At last you sense that you are achieving something right.

"It doesn't bother me, as long as I come out on top. If I feel like I am competing the right manner, which I feel like 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, must be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the British team. The layout has characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: low downforce, cool temperatures, and low grip. They are the only two circuits in the current championship where McLaren have been unable to claim a single podium place, and Norris was circumspect once more about their chances in Nevada. Still, his task in the immediate future is simple: end the race in ahead of Piastri and the championship tally he requires will come.

Friday Running Shows Varied Results for Championship Rivals

Charles Leclerc topped the leaderboard in first practice on what was remained a sandy and extremely low-grip track. The Williams racer was second, with the Red Bull star in fourth, the McLaren ace in P6, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative night running of second practice, the Briton was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of the Italian rookie, with his teammate down in fourteenth; however, the session lost almost all of the final 20 minutes of track time to check a reported unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

The issue is taken seriously on a street circuit where, at the inaugural Nevada GP held in 2023, a loose drain cover struck the Ferrari, severely harming it and causing the session to be ended.

The German Team Announce Stake Transaction

The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has sold a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the chief executive and creator of the digital protection firm the tech giant. The team principal will remain as boss and could earn as much as £230 million from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an F1 team.