🔗 Share this article

Amid the excitement around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren's lead driver is keeping a level head about his prospects of claiming his maiden drivers' championship.

Norris presently holds a two-dozen 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 up for grabs across the remaining trio of events. However, after staging a remarkable recovery from 34 points behind his teammate following the Zandvoort race in August, Norris is concentrating on performing with the clinical precision that lifted him to the top of the standings.

"Things can easily turn the opposite way once more even though I don't want it to," he commented. "That's motorsport, you know. You can also have luck. Other times you end up unlucky. Whatever it may be. There's really not worth becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to view it as a goal that remains far away."

The 26-year-old has found his peak performance at a crucial juncture—having struggled with the car in the first part of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has shed the controlled, nearly flawless ease that previously made him appear to be a future title winner. Notably, Norris kept a impressive level of composure throughout, asserting even in the face of setbacks—like his retirement from the Zandvoort race—that he would stick to his gameplan and approach each session with the same unwavering attention to detail. It has paid off.

Meanwhile, McLaren have worked hard to attempt 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 squad instructed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate following he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Some fans were unhappy with what was considered McLaren needlessly manipulating their drivers.

Norris has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was booed on the podium at both, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are leading, a lot of individuals try to bring you down. They don't want to see you succeeding. I consider it a positive sign," he said.

"It just amuses me. While standing on the winner's stage in Interlagos, I truly enjoyed it. The experience was very enjoyable. At last you feel like you are achieving success.

"I don't mind, provided that I come out on top. As long as I believe I'm doing it the right manner, 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, meanwhile, must be mastered, and it is not a track suited to the McLaren. It shares characteristics with Canada and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, cool temperatures, and slippery surfaces. These are the only two tracks in the current championship where the papaya squad have been unable to claim a single podium place, and the leader was cautious again about their chances this weekend. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in ahead of his teammate and the championship tally he requires will follow.

Practice Sees Mixed Results for Title 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 the Red Bull star in fourth, Norris sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more indicative evening session of second practice, the Briton was quickest ahead of the Silver Arrows of the Italian rookie, with Piastri down in fourteenth; though, the session was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to check a suspected unsecured drain cover at turn 17.

This problem is treated with caution on a temporary track where, at the first Nevada GP staged in 2023, a dislodged manhole smashed into the Ferrari, severely damaging it and causing the practice to be aborted.

The German Team Confirm Stake Sale

Mercedes have confirmed that their boss the Austrian executive has sold a 15% stake in his investment firm, equating to a 5% share in the team, to American billionaire the cybersecurity magnate. The investor is the CEO and founder of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The team principal will stay on as team principal and could earn as much as £230m from the sale, with Mercedes having been valued at £4.57 billion, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.