Lando Norris will have to take a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren announced on Thursday that his car will be fitted with a fourth power electronics unit of the season, one more than allowed under Formula One regulations.
Penalty Details and Reasoning
Norris’s first two units suffered “terminal” issues in China in March, where he did not start the race, then in free practice in Monaco last month. McLaren explained that while the power electronics unit installed in Japan, and 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, to take advantage of these improvements, the team must incur a 10-place grid penalty on Norris’s car.
Strategic Decision
McLaren stated: “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.”
Current Standings
Norris, who pipped Max Verstappen to last year’s title by two points, is fifth in the drivers’ standings, 82 points behind the leader, Kimi Antonelli.
