Norris hopes grid penalty will not derail Belgian Grand Prix weekend

WEB DESK: Formula One world champion Lando Norris is hoping to recover from a difficult start to his Belgian Grand Prix weekend after being handed a 10-place grid penalty for changing his McLaren’s power electronics unit.

“I hope it’s not the end of my weekend before it has even started,” Norris told reporters on Thursday. “I am still confident we can have a good weekend.”

Norris started last year’s race at Spa-Francorchamps from pole position, while teammate Oscar Piastri went on to claim victory. However, McLaren have struggled for pace this season and currently sit third in the constructors’ standings behind championship leaders Mercedes and Ferrari.

Under Formula One regulations, drivers are permitted to use three power electronics units per season. Norris exceeded that limit after McLaren opted for a fourth unit, triggering the mandatory grid penalty.

Reliability issues force McLaren’s decision

McLaren said Norris’s first power electronics unit suffered a terminal failure during the Chinese Grand Prix in March, preventing him from starting the race.

The second unit was introduced for the Japanese Grand Prix later that month but was withdrawn after issues emerged during practice sessions. Although repaired, it later developed another terminal problem during practice at the Monaco Grand Prix in June.

“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,” McLaren said.

The team explained that taking advantage of the latest improvements required installing a new unit, which meant accepting a 10-place grid penalty for Norris.

McLaren chose Belgium for the penalty because Spa-Francorchamps offers more overtaking opportunities compared with the next two races in Hungary and the Netherlands.

The team confirmed that the new unit is expected to be used for the remainder of the season.

“It won’t be made easier by the grid penalty, but that’s because we have been unlucky losing different components–the engine, the power unit or the controls,” Norris said.

“I’m on the back foot from a spare parts point of view, but that’s out of my hands. That’s life, you have to take it on the chin. This is a better track to take the penalty than the next two.”

Meanwhile, teammate Oscar Piastri will receive the latest Mercedes engine without a penalty, as he has not faced the same reliability issues.

McLaren are the last of the four Mercedes-powered teams to receive the latest engine specification due to their own upgrade schedule.