McLaren F1 star Lando Norris set for huge FIA penalty at Belgian Grand Prix

Lando Norris in front of the FIA flag — Photo: © IMAGO

Belgian Grand Prix

Lando Norris set for huge FIA penalty at Belgian Grand Prix

McLaren confirm Norris will be slapped with a massive FIA penalty in Spa

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 16 July 2026 20:57

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McLaren F1 team have announced their star driver and reigning champion Lando Norris will be slapped with a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Despite a disappointing season for the papaya F1 squad under the new regulations, Norris has managed to stay in the fight among the top drivers in the standings thanks to results such as P3 in the sprint last time out in front of his adoring Silverstone Landostand.

The 26-year-old heads to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend in P5 in the drivers' championship, although he is just 11 points behind fourth-placed Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.

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But Norris' chances of picking up a points haul in Belgium on Sunday have taken a major hit already as McLaren have announced their decision to fit a fourth power electronics unit on his car.

McLaren explain decision that sees Norris handed FIA penalty at Spa

The Silver Arrows provide engines to not just McLaren but also Alpine and Williams, with Mercedes and all their customer outfits apart from McLaren having already fitted the new unit which was designed to remove their persistent reliability concerns.

McLaren have opted to take the new unit this weekend as well as trialling out a new rear wing during practice on Friday.

But fitting Norris' car with the new and hopefully improved electronics unit will come at a price for the champion, who will have to qualify pretty high up the grid in order to stand a chance of picking up points on Sunday given he will be demoted 10 places ahead of lights out.

A statement from McLaren confirmed ahead of the track action in Spa: "McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team will fit car Number 1 with a fourth power electronics this weekend in Spa, exceeding our permitted number of allocated power electronics units and incurring a 10-place grid penalty.

"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."

Looking ahead to the rest of the campaign and whether Norris can expect his car to undergo yet another unit change before the season finale, the team concluded: "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."

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F1 FIA Lando Norris Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps