(Motorsport-Total.com) – World champion Lando Norris’ Belgium weekend has already suffered a severe setback before the event, as it has been confirmed that the McLaren driver will be penalized with a ten-place grid drop on Sunday, even before any wheel has turned at Spa-Francorchamps.
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As his team reports, Norris’ power unit will be equipped with new control electronics for the weekend. For the Englishman, this is already the fourth in the 2026 Formula 1 season, exceeding the allowed quota of three units (see overview of engine parts 2026).
According to Article B8.2.8 of the Sporting Regulations, this automatically results in a ten-place grid penalty, which means Norris will have a lot of work ahead on Sunday if he wants to achieve a good result.
Norris’ first electronics unit had already suffered irreparable damage at the second race of the season in China, which is why he was unable to participate in the race at all. The second unit, installed in Japan, had to be removed for repairs after problems in free practice.
Although this was repaired and used again, it also suffered irreparable damage during the second practice in Monaco and had to be taken out of the pool.
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Thus, Norris has been running with the third unit since Japan. And even though it has been reliable so far, McLaren feels forced to make a change to benefit from recent reliability updates from manufacturer Mercedes.
“We have decided to do this in Belgium – a track where overtaking is comparatively easier than at the next two events in Hungary and Zandvoort,” McLaren states.
In fact, engine penalties have often been taken in Belgium in recent years for tactical reasons, as overtaking on the long Kemmel Straight is quite easy, making the disadvantage less severe than on other tracks.
McLaren now plans to make it to the end of the season with the fourth control electronics unit. Another change would result in a further five-place penalty. For all other engine elements, Norris currently still has a buffer – only with the battery has he already used the third of three allowed units.
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