Norris set for grid penalty at Belgian GP after exceeding power unit allocation

Lando Norris will face a 10-place grid penalty at the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix, with McLaren opting to fit a new power electronics unit to his car in an attempt to tackle their reliability struggles.

Mercedes’ engines have been subject to criticism in recent rounds due to retirements that were out of drivers’ control, such as Kimi Antonelli’s in Barcelona. As one of their customer teams, McLaren haven’t been able to avoid enduring similar problems.

Norris has been held back on multiple occasions by issues with the power unit, which caused his failure to start the Chinese Grand Prix and further complications in Japan and Monaco.

As per the regulations, if a driver uses more power unit elements than the permitted allocation, a grid penalty will be imposed at the first event where each additional element is used. In this case, McLaren are hopeful that the overtaking opportunities at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps make this weekend the best time to suffer the setback.

A statement made by the team reads: “McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team will fit car Number 1 with a fourth power electronics [unit] this weekend in Spa, exceeding our permitted number of allocated power electronics units and incurring a 10-place grid penalty.

“Car Number 1's first power electronics unit suffered a terminal issue in China, which meant Lando was unable to start the race. Lando’s second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be withdrawn for remedial work after suffering issues in Free Practice, which necessitated moving to a third and final power electronics unit within the permitted allocation.

“While the second power electronics unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it suffered a terminal issue in FP2 in Monaco, and was withdrawn from our allocation once again.”

McLaren’s numerous upgrades have helped Norris recover some lost ground in the Drivers' standings, where he now sits in fifth place with 97 points, but they are still eager to use their refreshed power unit and continued development to take the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari.

The statement adds: “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 has since introduced a series of reliability fixes to their new power electronics systems.

“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 have chosen to do this in Belgium, a circuit where overtaking is relatively more prevalent, as opposed to the following two events in Hungary and Zandvoort.

“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 on Lando.”