Lando Norris: McLaren driver to take 10-place grid penalty at Belgian GP for exceeding power unit element limits
Fourth power electronics unit of the season, featuring Mercedes' reliability improvements, to trigger automatic grid drop for reigning world champion in Sunday's race; watch Friday's practice sessions for the Belgian GP at 12.30pm and 4pm, live on Sky Sports F1
Thursday 16 July 2026 12:16, UK
Lando Norris will take a 10-place grid penalty at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
McLaren confirmed on Thursday that Norris' MCL40 will use a new power electronics unit at Spa-Francorchamps - which will be the fourth such element the car has been fitted with this season, one more than is permitted to be used without penalty under F1's regulations.
A fourth unit automatically triggers a 10-place grid drop for the reigning world champion from wherever he qualifies for Sunday's race. He will therefore start no higher than 11th.
- Belgian GP: UK schedule and how to watch on Sky Sports
- F1 2026 standings | F1 2026 calendar | F1 Gossip Column
- Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more📱
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺
McLaren said they are fitting the fresh unit to take advantage of battery reliability improvements from engine suppliers Mercedes after failures with initial units earlier in the season, with Spa-Francorchamps chosen as the circuit to take the penalty due to its relatively overtaking-friendly nature.
A McLaren statement read: "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"Lando's second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be withdrawn for remedial work after suffering issues in Free Practice, which necessitated moving to a third and final power electronics unit within the permitted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. 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unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it suffered a terminal issue in FP2 in Monaco, and was withdrawn from our allocation once again.
"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.
"However, in order to take advantage of these improvements, we must incur a 10-place grid penalty on Lando's car in order to take a new unit.
"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."
Norris, who counts Spa as a partial home race as his mother is Belgian, has endured a challenging world title defence so far in the 2026 season with McLaren unable to challenge front-runners Mercedes and Ferrari on a consistent basis.
He is fifth in the Drivers' Championship after nine rounds, 82 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes have recently introduced reliability improvements for their power unit, which their title-leading works team first used two races ago in Austria and then customers Alpine and Williams last time out at Silverstone.
McLaren had not yet run Mercedes' new-specification internal combustion units as their failure to take the race start with both cars at March's Chinese Grand Prix meant they had not reached the required mileage limits on the units. However, Norris and Oscar Piastri are set to take the fresh ICEs, without any penalty, this weekend.
Sky Sports F1's Belgian GP schedule
Friday July 17
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Belgian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
2pm: F3 Qualifying
2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
3.30pm: Belgian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday July 18
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.15pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING*
Sunday July 19
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Belgian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Belgian GP reaction: Chequered Flag
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1's summer run continues with the Belgian Grand Prix at legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
