Norris cops massive penalty after engine dramas
Updated . First published
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris has been slapped with a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, after McLaren exceeded its permitted allocation of engine components.
The team has installed a new battery in Norris’ car, marking his fourth in 2026.
Lando Norris will take a significant penalty into Spa. Peter Powell
All teams and drivers can use three batteries before they are penalised for exceeding their allotment. In technical terms, the specific part replaced in Belgium is known as the ‘power electronics’, which is a control computer within the battery module.
McLaren strategically chose Spa to absorb the penalty as overtaking is usually easier on the long straights of the Belgian track. This could help mitigate the hefty grid drop as McLaren don’t expect to challenge the front-runners this weekend.
Instead, the team is shifting focus towards races in Hungary and Zandvoort after F1’s summer break, where they plan to introduce significant upgrade packages.
This grid penalty compounds a troubled start to the season for McLaren.
After securing a dominant drivers’ and constructors’ championship last year with Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri, the team has uncharacteristically struggled with both performance and reliability this season.
“While the power electronics unit we installed in Japan, and have used in every session since Miami, has worked reliably, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) has since introduced a series of reliability fixes to their new power electronics systems,” a team statement read.
“However, in order to take advantage of these improvements, we must incur a 10-place grid penalty on Lando’s car in order to take a new unit.
“We now plan to use this fourth power electronics unit for the remainder of the season, in order to maximise reliability while minimising sporting penalties.”
