Norris to take 10-place grid penalty at Spa after McLaren power unit parts change

Lando Norris is set to receive a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren fitted his car with additional Mercedes power unit components.

The reigning world champion had been facing potential reliability-related issues after a difficult start to the season, with several problems forcing McLaren to carefully manage his allocation of engine parts.

With Mercedes introducing an updated specification aimed at improving reliability, McLaren has decided to take the opportunity to replace components on both cars. Oscar Piastri will move to his third power electronics unit, while Norris will use his fourth, exceeding the permitted allocation and triggering the grid penalty.

McLaren confirmed the decision on Thursday:

“McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team will fit car Number 1 with a fourth power electronics unit this weekend in Spa, exceeding our permitted number of allocated power electronics units and incurring a 10-place grid penalty.”

The team explained that Spa-Francorchamps was chosen as the ideal venue for the change due to the circuit’s long straights and higher overtaking potential, which should allow Norris to recover positions more easily during the race.

McLaren also clarified that the previous power electronics unit introduced in Japan had been reliable, but Mercedes had since developed further updates to address reliability concerns.“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 to their new power electronics systems,” McLaren added.