SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Lando Norris will receive a 10-place grid penalty from wherever he qualifies at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren confirmed it will fit his car with a fourth "power electronics" of the season.
Each car is permitted a set number of power unit components for the season and going over that quota results in a grid penalty.
Although McLaren still had a working set of power electronics for Norris' car within its quota, it chose to install an updated version at Spa-Francorchamps and take the 10-place because it is a circuit where overtaking is relatively easy.
Norris' car suffered a series of battery related issues in China, Japan and Monaco, although the problem encountered in Japan was fixed.
This weekend, McLaren is fitting Mercedes' latest specification of power unit to both its cars for the first time and the reliability fix for the power electronics is part of that package.
- Belgian Grand Prix 2026: Race start time, how to watch
- Vowles backs long-term plan for Carlos Sainz: 'No other debate about it'
- Oscar Piastri's manager shuts down Max Verstappen rumors
"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," McLaren explained in a statement.
"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. 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."
Mercedes power units have suffered a series of issues this year, including race-ending failures for works team drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Mercedes introduced the latest specification of power unit on its own cars at the Austrian Grand Prix, with customers Alpine and Williams using it from the British Grand Prix onwards and McLaren using it for the first time this weekend.
Defending champion Norris is currently fifth in the drivers' standings, 82 points off Antonelli.