McLaren claim step forward despite Lando Norris ten-place grid drop for Belgian Grand Prix

The penalty during qualifying today at Spa-Francorchamps, triggered by exceeding his permitted allocation of power electronics units, removes Norris from P3, a position where the reigning Formula World Champion believed he could fight the leaders. He will line up at P13 instead.

Norris delivered McLaren’s strongest qualifying performance for several races, topping Q1 before finishing third in both Q2 and Q3. His final time of 1:44.801 secured third on the road, behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.

Norris admitted the result was difficult to enjoy fully because his front-running grid position will not stand: “We’ve not really changed anything, but we’re a bit quicker on this track. It’s nice to be standing here, just not nice knowing I have to go 10 places back tomorrow.”

“Unfortunate that this isn’t genuinely where we are starting tomorrow because it would be nice to have a little bit of a fight with these guys, but we made the most of it. It was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me," he pointed out.

The Englishman looked competitive throughout the session and briefly moved to the top of the timesheets during the opening Q3 runs. His final attempt ended when he dipped a wheel into the gravel and abandoned the lap, leaving him unable to challenge Antonelli or improve on third.

Despite that disappointment, Norris felt he had extracted everything available from the MCL40: “Honestly, I’ve been pretty happy all weekend. It’s a little bit of a home race for me, so it's always a bit of a boost, and I’ve performed well all weekend so far. So hopefully we can still have a good race tomorrow and have some fun.”

McLaren’s performance represented a step forward after several difficult weekends, although the team acknowledged a sizeable deficit remained to Mercedes. Its new low-drag wing helped match the specific downforce and straight-line speed demands of Spa.

Norris said, "I am very happy to have qualified for P3 today. We had a pretty amazing start to Q3; we extracted absolutely everything from the car and were able to put it all together. Unfortunately, the 10-place penalty means we won’t be starting there, but it’s nice to see that we are moving in the right direction, and it’s encouraging for the future when we are able to bring bigger upgrades.”

Oscar Piastri qualified seventh after struggling to find a consistent balance and using an additional set of new Soft tyres in Q2. He will move forward to sixth on the grid because of Norris’s penalty, giving McLaren one car closer to the leading group.

McLaren deliberately chose Spa to absorb Norris’s penalty because the circuit offers several overtaking opportunities, particularly along the Kemmel Straight. The team also adjusted his FP3 programme towards higher-fuel running, preparing him for a recovery drive rather than focusing solely on qualifying.

Norris remains confident: “Mercedes on pole isn’t a surprise, so congratulations to Kimi Antonelli. We can still take positives, though; we are clearly quicker than quite a few of the other cars in front of us on the grid, so we’re hoping to make some overtakes and hopefully get back in the race closer to the front of the grid. We will see what we can do.”

Asked whether fighting through the field was now the objective, Norris replied: “That’s certainly the plan.”

Team Principal Andrea Stella summed up the sentiment in the McLaren garage: “Today was a step forward for us. Lando drove exceptionally well throughout the qualifying session, while Oscar improved and was very close at the end. As a team we optimised the package for Belgium, with our new wing matching the drag and downforce needs of this circuit.”

Third place showed McLaren’s latest package can be competitive at Spa, but the penalty leaves Norris facing a far more complicated Belgian Grand Prix. His qualifying pace offered encouragement; converting it into points from P13 will now depend on clean execution, tyre management and decisive overtaking.