McLaren addresses Lando Norris penalty risk after fresh ERS change
Lando Norris missed out on running time as McLaren changed a battery, but qualified fifth at Suzuka.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella opened up on third and final permitted ERS module was given to Lando Norris ahead of Saturday’s running in Suzuka.
An electronics issue prevented the reigning World Champion from starting the Chinese Grand Prix last time out, but Stella is hopeful the team can repair the ERS removed from Norris’ car on Saturday – as future grid penalty implications could await Norris without a repair.
Lando Norris ERS limit concern after fresh McLaren change
The full complement of power unit components are strictly limited throughout a full season, among that being that teams allowed three ERS [energy recovery system] units to take them through an entire race calender.
Taking any further parts beyond what is permitted would trigger an automatic 10-place grid penalty, meaning any fresh power unit parts come at a competitive cost.
Norris is down one ERS for the year after registering a DNS in China a fortnight ago, with Stella confirming that component is no longer usable.
With McLaren having confirmed a late change in Suzuka, too, there were potential future grid penalty implications for the Norris after taking a fresh ERS unit towards the end of final practice on Saturday.
Now on Norris’ final permitted ERS for the season, Stella is looking to the team to potentially repair one of these key parts – given the potential on-track cost further down the line.
Expanding further on the subject after qualifying at Suzuka, where Norris secured a fifth-place grid slot, Stella said: “The problem we noticed before the start of P3 was on the same power unit component, the ERS module – which includes the battery, but there are some other electronics inside it – but [the issue] is a different nature. So it was to do with something different.
“I don’t want to give too many details, and the only way was to remove the part to investigate it.
“Once investigated, we realised that it will take time to attempt a repair, so we needed to give Lando the possibility to do the session, so we introduced a third battery pack.
“But, we hope that we are going to be able to repair this battery pack and that we have not lost another component of the three allowed in a season, because the one that had the fault in China, that one is lost.”
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Norris admitted his missed practice time was not ideal in the circumstances, with teammate Oscar Piastri having qualified ahead in third.
Acknowledging the lack of track time overall was not the only reason why he was slightly behind his teammate, he was pleased enough with his third-row placing given the circumstances.
“It’s a mix of things, it’s not just that,” he said, when asked if losing out on track running hindered him.
“It’s also because I’ve tried more things with the setup, with the car, and understood more things. It’s also that and it’s hard to quantify that amount, but I’ve certainly been playing catch-up the whole weekend.
“Even for tomorrow, the no laps of high fuel, or the no continuous laps, so luck’s not been on my side so far, but I feel like I was getting better and better in qualifying and understanding how I can push the car more.
“It’s been difficult. I’m happy with the P5. The gap still quite big to the guys ahead, so it’s not like I’m totally satisfied. I think there were things I should have done better, and I didn’t do well enough. But otherwise, I’m sure with more laps, I would have been good.”
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