A substantial grid penalty already looms for unlucky McLaren driver Norris

Norris was forced to miss the Chinese Grand Prix nearly two weeks ago due to an electrical issue. It has now been confirmed that the battery responsible for his absence is beyond repair. As a result, he will have to use his second battery in Japan this weekend, GPblog reports.

Over the course of the season, each driver is allowed a maximum of three batteries. If a fourth has to be used out of necessity, that automatically results in a ten-place grid penalty. For every additional new battery after that, the penalty is five places.

Lando Norris hopes it won’t come to that. "Alongside HPP, I think it took a little bit of time to figure things out, but of course, it hurt us as a team. It certainly didn't make us look good to have two cars not starting a race," Norris said to the media at the Japanese Grand Prix.

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