Lando Norris Handed 10-Place Grid Penalty for Belgian Grand Prix, Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris will drop 10 places on the starting grid at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren was forced to replace the power electronics unit on his car.

Norris claimed pole position at Spa last year, but McLaren have struggled for consistency this season and currently sit third in the championship standings behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

F1 regulations allow drivers to use a maximum of three power electronics units during a season. McLaren’s decision to introduce an additional unit has exceeded that allowance, resulting in the mandatory grid penalty.

The team confirmed that Norris’ first power electronics unit suffered an irreparable failure during the Chinese Grand Prix in March, forcing him to retire before the race even began.

McLaren’s second power electronics unit was introduced at the Japanese Grand Prix in March but was later removed after problems were detected during free practice.

Although the unit was repaired and returned to service, it eventually suffered another terminal issue during practice at the Monaco Grand Prix in June.

Explaining the decision, McLaren said the unit had performed reliably since being fitted in Japan and used through subsequent race weekends, but Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains had since developed several reliability upgrades that the team wanted to benefit from.

“To take advantage of these improvements, we must accept a 10-place grid penalty for Lando’s car in order to install a new unit,” McLaren said.

The team opted to take the penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix because Spa-Francorchamps is considered a circuit where overtaking opportunities are more available, making recovery through the field more realistic than at the upcoming races in Hungary and Zandvoort.

McLaren confirmed that the new fourth power electronics unit is expected to remain in use for the rest of the season.