Lando Norris’ hopes of winning the Belgian Grand Prix have suffered a major setback three days before the race.The McLaren driver has been slapped with an automatic ten-place grid penalty prior to qualifying.Norris has been hit with an instant ten-place penalty ahead of the Belgian Grand PrixGettyIt means the defending world champion cannot start the grand prix any higher than 11th.Norris has been penalised after McLaren confirmed they will use a new power electronics unit at Spa.As it is the fourth such element Norris has used this season, he has been hit with an instant penalty.McLaren statementIn a statement, McLaren explained they had opted to do so in Belgium this weekend as they believe overtakes are more achievable.The constructor said: “Car Number 1’s first power electronics unit suffered a terminal issue in China, which meant Lando was unable to start the race.“Lando’s second power electronics unit, fitted in Japan, needed to be withdrawn for remedial work after suffering issues in Free Practice, which necessitated moving to a third and final power electronics unit within the permitted allocation.“While the second power electronics unit was able to be repaired after the Japanese Grand Prix, it suffered a terminal issue in FP2 in Monaco, and was withdrawn from our allocation once again.“While the power electronics unit we installed in Japan, and have used in every session since Miami, has worked reliably,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.“However, in order to take advantage of these improvements, we must incur a ten-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.Norris has been penalised after McLaren announced he will use a new battery this weekendGetty“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.”The penalty will be applied to Norris following qualifying for the race, which will be held on Saturday afternoon.This year’s Belgian Grand Prix then takes place on Sunday at 2pm BST.Norris is yet to win at Spa in his Formula One career, with his best finish being second team-mate Oscar Piastri last year.The 26-year-old currently sits fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, 82 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.He has secured just two podiums in nine races so far this season and is still awaiting his first win of 2026.Norris cannot start Sunday’s race higher than 11th on the gridGettyIt follows a fourth place finish at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago.Meanwhile, McLaren are third in the Constructors’ Championship standings, where they sit 154 points adrift of first place Mercedes.