F1 champion Lando Norris on brink of FIA penalty after Japanese Grand Prix disaster

Lando Norris,McLaren,FIA,Australia,2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Japanese Grand Prix

Lando Norris on brink of FIA penalty after Japanese Grand Prix disaster

McLaren are yet to have a race weekend without any battery trouble

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 28 March 2026 20:18

Reigning F1 champion Lando Norris is flirting with an FIA penalty as McLaren continue to find problems with their Mercedes power unit at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The papaya F1 squad have gone from being back-to-back constructors' champions to being all out on their own in the team standings, unable to bring the fight to Mercedes or Ferrari in the opening rounds of the 2026 campaign.

As a customer team of the Brackley-based squad, one may assume McLaren would have been expecting to be competitive this season. But whilst the Silver Arrows have take consecutive one-two finishes at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, McLaren are yet to have a race weekend without any battery trouble.

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Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri hasn't even completed a single grand prix lap under the sport's new regulations, but whilst the Aussie seemed to bounce back early on in the Japanese GP weekend, Norris was unable to do so thanks to a battery issue.

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Norris' McLaren battery nightmare

Norris' running was restricted during Friday's practice sessions at the Suzuka International Circuit after his new MCL40 ran into a range of issues, but FP3 is where the reigning drivers' champion was hit hardest.

Prior to the final practice session of the weekend getting underway, Sky Sports confirmed that a problem with the energy store system (ES) meant that Norris was 'very unlikely' to take part in FP3 at all.

But thanks to the hard work of the McLaren mechanics on Norris' side of the garage, his MCL40 had been fitted with a brand new ES, allowing him to take to the track with just over 20 minutes left on the clock on Saturday morning.

But this change could spell trouble for the 26-year-old.

The FIA’s official Technical Delegate’s Report issued on Saturday confirmed that Norris would be using a new energy store unit (ES) for the remainder of the competition, with the report stating: "The energy store unit used by Lando Norris is one of the three new energy store units allowed for the 2026 Championship season and this is in conformity with B8.2.2 d) of the 2026 Formula One Sporting Regulations."

But this is the third ES that has been used on Norris' car in 2026, meaning he has already reached the maximum amount allowed per car across the entire season.

As a result, the use of any future new batteries on Norris' MCL40 will land him with a grid penalty.

McLaren F1 boss hopeful of salvaging Mercedes battery

Norris will almost certainly have to serve an FIA penalty for exceeding the maximum battery allowance per season later in the year after McLaren encountered two separate issues on Norris and Piastri's car last time out that prevented either driver from starting the Chinese GP.

Norris' battery is said to have been plagued by a software problem that made it unusable in Shanghai, with the unit permanently damaged as a result, forcing it to have been removed from the British star's component pool.

Nevertheless, McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella remains optimistic that there could be some light at the end of the tunnel regarding their problems with power unit supplier, Mercedes HPP.

Speaking during Ted's Qualifying Notebook live on Sky Sports F1 on Saturday, Ted Kravitz revealed: "[Norris] is on his third battery and you're only allowed three in a season before you get a grid penalty.

"That is true, but Andrea Stella thinks that the second battery, number two, is recoverable, is repairable. I'm sure there will be a grid penalty for extra battery usage for Lando throughout the season, but it's not going to happen for a while because we think number three and number two are still in service, even though number one isn't."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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