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Lando Norris will take a 10-place grid penalty at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
McLaren confirmed on Thursday that Norris’ MCL40 will use a new power electronics unit at Spa-Francorchamps – the fourth such component the car has already been fitted with this season, allowed penalty-free under F1’s regulations.
That automatically triggers a 10-place grid drop for the reigning world champion where he qualifies for Sunday’s race.
McLaren said they were fitting the new unit to take advantage of the reliability improvements from engine supplier Mercedes, with Spa-Francorchamps chosen as the circuit to take it due to its relatively overtaking-friendly nature.
A McLaren statement read: “Car No. 1’s first power electronics unit suffered a terminal problem in China, meaning Landau was unable to start the race.
“Lando’s second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be recalled for remedial work after suffering a free practice problem, which necessitated a move to the third and final power electronics unit in the approved allocation. While the second power electronics unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it again suffered from one terminal and all terminals were recalled from Moco again.
“While the power electronics unit we installed in Japan, and used in every session since Miami, worked reliably, the Mercedes-AMG high performance powertrain introduced a series of reliability issues in their new power electronics system.
“However, to take advantage of these improvements, we must pay a 10-place grid penalty to Landau’s car to get a new unit.
“We chose to do this in Belgium, a circuit where overtaking is relatively more common, as opposed to the following two events in Hungary and Zandvoort. We now plan to use this fourth power electronics unit for the rest of the season, to minimize the sport’s penalty at Landau and maximize reliability.”
More to follow…
Sky Sports F1’s Belgian GP schedule
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Take a look back at some of the year’s most dramatic moments at the Belgian Grand Prix
Friday 17 July
8.50am: Exercised F3
10am: F2 practice
12.00pm: Belgian GP Practice One (Session starts at 12.30pm)
2pm: F3 qualifying
2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
3.30pm: Belgian GP Practice Two (Session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 show
Saturday 18 July
9am: F3 sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.15pm: F2 sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP Qualifying Build-up*
3pm: Belgian GP Qualifying*
Sunday 19 July
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Belgian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
2pm: Belgian Grand Prix
4pm: Belgian GP reaction: checkered flag
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1’s summer run continues this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
