McLaren driver Lando Norris will face a ten-place grid penalty for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. The sanction arises from the need to install new components in the engine of your Mercedes power unit.
Norris was already facing the possibility of receiving punishments for engine problems earlier this season, due to reliability issues. The competitor had already used his third and final set of authorized electronic components for the year, after failures recorded in the Chinese and Japanese stages.
Given the release of the updated power unit specification by Mercedes, aiming for greater reliability, the McLaren team decided to install the third set of power electronics for Piastri and the fourth for Norris. This change to Norris implies a penalty of ten positions on the grid, for exceeding the number of permitted components.
In an official statement released on Thursday, July 16, 2026, McLaren confirmed the decision. “McLaren will equip the #1 car with a fourth power electronics unit this weekend at Spa, exceeding the number permitted and incurring a 10-place grid penalty,” the team said.
McLaren’s strategy for installing the new unit at Spa-Francorchamps was explained by the team, which seeks to take advantage of the track’s characteristics that favor overtaking. The expectation is that this will help the British driver to mitigate the impacts of a start in an unfavorable position.
McLaren detailed the reasoning behind the decision. “Although the electronic unit installed in Japan and used since Miami worked well, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains implemented reliability corrections in its new systems,” stated the team. “To benefit from these improvements, we accepted the ten-place penalty for Lando. Belgium was chosen as it is a circuit with more overtaking opportunities, unlike the next stages in Hungary and Zandvoort.”
The team also indicated its future plans with the component. “We intend to use this fourth electronic power unit for the remainder of the season, seeking to optimize reliability and reduce future sporting penalties for Lando,” McLaren added.
In addition to the change in electronics, McLaren will also have access to the updated version of Mercedes’ internal combustion engine. The team had to wait for the supplier to make it available, which had already taken the new engine, with greater reliability, to Austria, while Alpine and Williams had already been using it since Silverstone.
