Formula 1 championship leader Lando Norris might once have been rattled by boos echoing around the podium, but not anymore. According to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, the 24-year-old Briton is now operating with complete focus—and total calm—as he leads the title race heading into this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri sits 24 points behind with three rounds remaining, and Brown says both drivers are locked in and ready for the final push.

“Oscar’s definitely fighting back,” Brown told Reuters. “One of his greatest strengths is he just gets in the zone. And I’ve never seen Lando in a better place.

“The booing would have bothered him in the past, but he recognises that was probably as much aimed at me and how we’re managing the duel between teammates. He’s in a great place. It’s not bothering him.”

Brown, who spent the weekend with both drivers visiting partners and playing golf in the Bay Area, said the calmness in the camp is genuine.

“Sometimes you can say, ‘Don’t let that stuff bother you,’ but you can see it does. He (Norris) is just in a good place… totally focused, engaged, relaxed. They’re not faking it.”

Crowd Reactions in Mexico and Brazil

Norris heads to Las Vegas after back-to-back wins in Mexico and Brazil, and he has beaten Piastri in their last six head-to-head outings. Yet the champion-in-waiting was met with boos at both recent podium ceremonies.

The reasons for the jeers have been debated: lingering resentment from some Sergio Pérez fans over comments made last year, perceptions that McLaren favour Norris over Piastri, or simply fans pulling for the “underdog”—whether that’s Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc.

“I think it’s just the nature of the beast,” Brown said, noting that his autobiography Seven Tenths of a Second is being released this week. “I’m getting more social media hate today, having won two constructors’ titles and with first and second in the championship, than when we were 17th and 18th.

“You just learn it’s a small group of keyboard warriors. We’re staying true to our racing principles.”

Title Battle Reaches Critical Stage

This weekend could narrow the title fight to the two McLaren drivers alone if the gap between Verstappen and Norris stretches from 49 points to 58. If that happens, McLaren—who have already secured the constructors’ championship—would be guaranteed their first drivers’ crown-and-constructors double since the early 2000s.

Still, Brown refuses to take anything for granted.

“My mindset isn’t ‘Max might be out of the picture’,” he said. “It’s more, ‘If we don’t have a strong weekend, Max is right back in the game.’

“I’d love to leave this race knowing a papaya car will be the drivers’ champion. Last weekend was great because Lando extended his lead, but the glass-half-empty side is—it got closer between Max and Oscar. And we don’t want to just win the championship. We want to finish first and second.”