McLaren confirms Lando Norris grid penalty at Belgian Grand Prix

McLaren has confirmed that Lando Norris will serve a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

It comes as the reigning world champion moves on to his fourth power electronics unit of the F1 2026 season.

McLaren confirms 10-place Belgian GP grid penalty for Lando Norris

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It emerged earlier this week that McLaren will compete with Mercedes’ latest power unit at Spa having run a previous-spec engine at the British Grand Prix.

The move to take the updated power unit will see Norris incur a 10-place grid penalty in Belgium for exceeding his component limit for the F1 2026 season.

Drivers are permitted to use three power electronics units over the course of a season, with Norris’s latest putting him on four.

In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com on Thursday, McLaren explained that Norris’s patchy reliability record in 2026 – which saw two of his power electronics units suffer terminal problems in China and Monaco – has left him with no option but to take a penalty.

The team added that it has chosen to take Norris’s penalty at Spa due to the overtaking-friendly nature of the circuit, offering him the best chance to recover positions.

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McLaren said: “McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team will fit car Number 1 with a fourth power electronics 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“Lando’s second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be withdrawn for remedial work after suffering issues in Free Practice, which necessitated moving to a third and final power electronics unit within the permitted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unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it suffered a terminal issue in FP2 in Monaco, and was withdrawn from our allocation once again.

“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.”

Norris has endured a challenging title defence in F1 2026, with the reigning champion currently fifth in the standings having been restricted to just two podium finishes so far this season.

The 26-year-old cut a frustrated figure following his home race at Silverstone, claiming the MCL40 is “one of the hardest cars I’ve ever driven in Formula 1.”

He added: “We’ve been slow all year.”

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