Lando Norris will start the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix with a 10-place grid penalty due to McLaren exceeding the allowed three power electronics units per season [1, 2, 3, 4]. McLaren fitted Norris’s car with a fourth unit, which controls the battery and has caused reliability problems across Mercedes-powered teams this year [1, 4].
The first power electronics unit suffered a terminal failure in China in March, forcing Norris to miss the race start [1, 2, 3, 4]. A second unit was installed for the Japanese Grand Prix but faced reliability issues and was withdrawn for repairs after practice sessions [1, 2, 3, 4]. The repaired unit failed again during Monaco practice in June [1, 2, 3, 4].
Since Miami, Norris has used a third unit, which performed reliably. However, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains introduced reliability upgrades requiring a new unit. McLaren said, "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. 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" [2].
McLaren chose to take the penalty at Belgium because the track allows more overtaking, rather than at upcoming events in Hungary and the Netherlands. They stated, "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 (Netherlands)" [2].
Currently third in the constructors' championship behind Mercedes and Ferrari, McLaren hopes the new unit will improve reliability. They added, "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" [4].
In the drivers' standings, Norris sits fifth, 82 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli [4]. The Belgian Grand Prix race at Spa-Francorchamps on July 23 will see Norris serve the penalty and start 10 places lower than his qualifying position [1, 2, 3, 4].
