Despite all excitement surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Lando Norris is keeping a level head regarding his chances of claiming his first world title.
Norris currently has a 24-point advantage over fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and is ahead of Max Verstappen by 49 points, with just up to 83 points available across the final three events. But, after staging a remarkable comeback from 34 points behind his teammate following 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 turn the opposite way again as much as I hope it doesn't," he stated. "That's motorsport, you know. Sometimes you get lucky. You can end up unfortunate. Whatever it may be. It's no point becoming overjoyed or thinking about it. I continue to do see it as something that's quite distant."
Norris has found his peak performance at a critical moment—after difficulties with the car in the opening half of the campaign—at the same time that his teammate has lost the controlled, nearly perfect composure that had for so long made him seem to be a future title winner. Importantly, Norris maintained a remarkable level of composure throughout, asserting despite challenges—such as his withdrawal from the Dutch GP—that he would adhere to his strategy and work each session with the same unwavering focus on specifics. It has paid off.
All the while, the team have worked hard to try to preserve a fair competition for their two drivers, and it has on occasion been a rather difficult process, especially at Monza when the team instructed the Australian to cede second place to his teammate after he had fallen behind because of a slow pit stop. Certain spectators were unhappy with what was considered the team unnecessarily interfering with their competitors.
Norris has claimed victory in the previous pair of grands prix, in Mexico City and Brazil, and was booed on the podium at each, yet he remained unfazed. "Once you are on top, many individuals want to undermine you. They do not like seeing you succeeding. I consider it a good thing," he remarked.
"It just makes me laugh. When I was on the podium in Interlagos, I really enjoyed it. It was very satisfying. You finally feel like you are achieving something right.
"It doesn't bother me, provided that I win. As long as I feel like I am competing the right manner, which I feel like that's the case, so long as I am confident I am dedicating hard work into remaining true to myself and those kinds of things, then I'm not too fussed about external opinions."
Las Vegas, on the other hand, must be mastered, and it is a circuit ideal for the McLaren. The layout has characteristics with Montreal and Azerbaijan: minimal aerodynamic grip, chilly conditions, and low grip. They are the sole pair of tracks this season where the papaya squad have failed to secure a single top-three finish, and the leader was circumspect again about their chances in Nevada. Yet, his objective in the immediate future is straightforward: end the race in front of his teammate and the points he requires will come.
The Ferrari driver led the times in FP1 on what was still a sandy and very low-grip surface. The Williams racer was runner-up, with Verstappen fourth, the McLaren ace sixth, and Piastri in eighth. During the more representative night running of FP2, Norris was fastest ahead of the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Piastri 14th; though, the practice was interrupted for almost all of the final 20 minutes of running to check a reported loose 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 Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, heavily harming it and leading to the session to be aborted.
The eight-time constructors' champions have revealed that their team principal Toto Wolff has divested a 15% stake in his holding company, equating to a 5% share in the squad, to US tycoon the cybersecurity magnate. Kurtz is the CEO and founder of the digital protection firm the tech giant. Wolff will stay on as team principal and could earn up to £230 million from the deal, with the Brackley-based outfit having been appraised at £4.57bn, a new high for an Formula 1 constructor.
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