Norris hit with grid penalty even before Belgian GP weekend kicks off

McLaren explained that Norris' first power electronics unit suffered a terminal failure in China, preventing him from starting the race. A second unit introduced in Japan also encountered problems during Free Practice and had to be withdrawn, forcing the team onto its third allocated unit. Although the Japanese unit was later repaired, another terminal issue during FP2 in Monaco meant it had to be removed from the allocation once again.

The team added that the third power electronics unit has operated reliably since Miami, but Mercedes has since introduced a number of reliability upgrades to the latest specification. In order to benefit from those improvements, McLaren has accepted a 10-place grid penalty by fitting a fourth unit.

McLaren also revealed that Belgium was deliberately chosen for the penalty because Spa offers greater overtaking opportunities than the following rounds in Hungary and Zandvoort. The plan is now to use this fourth power electronics unit for the rest of the season to maximise reliability while avoiding any further sporting penalties.