F1 points leader anxious entering Las Vegas Grand Prix: ‘Our worst race’

Everything appears to be lining up for McLaren driver Lando Norris to win his first Formula One world championship.

Norris has a 24-point lead in the drivers point standings with three races left in the season, beginning with Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

He’s coming off back-to-back wins at the last two races in Mexico City and Brazil. But the 26-year-old British driver is far from celebrating.

“They’re just strong results, which is exactly what I need, exactly what I’m fighting for every single weekend and every day,” Norris told reporters in a postrace news conference following his win in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Nov. 2. “Just very pleased, but it’s still a long way to go. No point getting too happy or excited just yet.”

The F1 title fight is still up for grabs entering the third annual Las Vegas Grand Prix. Action around the 17-turn, 3.853-mile course on the Las Vegas Strip begins with Thursday practice sessions at 4:30 and 8 p.m.

The 50-lap Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday.

Norris (390 points) leads McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri (366) by 24 points. Four-time defending world champion Max Verstappen is third (344), 46 points behind Norris.

It’s not possible for Norris to clinch the title in Las Vegas, like Verstappen did last year, with a maximum of 86 points remaining in the final three races.

Race winners receive 25 points in each race and an additional point in each race is available for the driver who runs the fastest lap. There are eight more points for the winner of the Sprint race in Qatar on Nov. 29.

‘We’ll wait and see’

Some of Norris’ hesitancy entering Las Vegas stems from McLaren’s struggles last year. In 2024, Norris entered Las Vegas behind Verstappen with a slight chance to keep the title fight alive.

But after qualifying sixth, Norris was not a threat to win and finished sixth. Piastri finished seventh.

“It was our worst race last year,” Norris told reporters in Brazil. “I’m not really looking forward to it. We’ve been trying to work quite hard on improving those things. We know Mercedes were incredibly strong (in Las Vegas) last year, as well as Red Bull and Ferrari. I think we were the bottom of those four.”

The weather could be a wild card with temperatures expected to be in the low 50s come green flag time Saturday, and a slight chance of rain is forecast during the race weekend.

“We’ll wait and see,” Norris told reporters in Brazil. “Obviously, we’ve improved a lot of things this year, so I’m not going to be too negative about it. I think there’s plenty to look forward to. We know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ones we are looking forward to. Las Vegas just a little bit less, because (it has) been probably some of our weakest races over the last two years.”

‘We’re pushing hard’

After finishing second in 2024 during a breakout year, Norris followed up with another strong season. Norris is tied with Piastri for the series lead with seven wins and has just two races where he failed to score points.

Norris and Piastri have been in a seasonlong points battle, with Piastri sitting atop the standings for most of the season. But Norris has finished on the podium in each of the previous four races to jump his teammate for the lead.

McLaren won its second straight constructors championship at the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct. 5 on the dominance of Norris and Piastri.

“McLaren (is) doing an amazing job giving me a great car,” Norris told reporters in Brazil. “We’re pushing hard every single weekend and I’m pushing hard away from the track. So rewarding — it doesn’t come easy, that’s for sure.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.