Norris gets new gearbox, reverts to old engine for Belgian GP

Lando Norris will move down the order for the start of the Belgian GP because of a grid penalty for a gearbox change following his huge qualifying crash.

Norris had to go to hospital for a precautionary check of his elbow after crashing heavily at Eau Rouge at the start of Q3, when the rain had got heavier and several drivers including Norris felt the session needed to be red-flagged.

The Briton has been cleared to race but the damage to his MCL35M was significant and among the extensive repairs is a gearbox change that automatically triggers a five-place grid drop.

Norris had starred in the wet qualifying session up to that point, setting the fastest time in both Q1 and Q2. He’ll now start the race from 15th place behind Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas – also with a grid penalty for his part in the Hungarian GP opening lap chaos.

Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo went on to secure fourth on the grid.

Glad to see you're ok @LandoNorris 🧡#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/2CHK5eOqpI

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 28, 2021

“Everything was going extremely well since the first lap in Q1, things were going perfectly and the car was feeling good, I felt confident with the car,” said Norris on Saturday evening.

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“It was tricky going out in Q3 because even on the out-lap I was saying how wet it was and saying it should be stopped or something because I was aquaplaning quite a bit so it was just a difficult situation to be in to know how much to push, how much to not.

“I think it’s a combination of pushing a bit too much for the weather at that point and aquaplaning a little bit in the middle of Eau Rouge, which obviously doesn’t end too well and ends up being the way it was.

“Of course I feel bad because things were going very well. The car was on fire and Q1, Q2 were extremely good and I think I could quite easily fought for pole position.

“But I’ve given the team, a lot of work to do and probably a very late night.”

The initial assessment of Norris’s Mercedes engine is that it is OK but as a precaution he will return an earlier power unit for the race.

That is a penalty-free change and the removed power unit is expected to be used at future events.