McLaren has confirmed that Lando Norris will incur a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. The decision follows the installation of a fourth control electronics component on his car, exceeding the permitted annual allocation.
Penalty details and reasons
The team announced on Thursday that Norris will start the race at Spa-Francorchamps no higher than 11th. The penalty stems from reliability problems with earlier power electronics units. A McLaren statement explained: "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 Lando's second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be withdrawn for remedial work after suffering issues in Free Practice, which necessitated moving to a third and final power electronics unit within the permitted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."
The statement continued: "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unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it suffered a terminal issue in FP2 in Monaco, and was withdrawn from our allocation once again."
Reliability fixes and strategic choice
Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains has introduced reliability fixes to their new power electronics systems. To take advantage of these improvements, McLaren must incur a 10-place grid penalty. The team deliberately chose Belgium for this penalty because overtaking is relatively easier at Spa compared to the next two races in Hungary and Zandvoort.
McLaren plans to use this fourth power electronics unit for the remainder of the season to maximise reliability while minimising further sporting penalties on Norris.
