Lando Norris has already lost one of his three allowed batteries for the 2026 F1 season with supplier Mercedes unable to fix it after his car failed to start in China.
McLaren arrives at Suzuka, having failed to start either car at the Chinese GP because of two different issues with the same electrical component on its customer Mercedes engines.
In the gap between the China and Japan weekends, McLaren worked closely with Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains engine division to properly diagnose the issues.
In doing so, The Race understands the battery on Norris’s McLaren was deemed unsalvageable, so he’ll require a new battery for this weekend’s Japanese GP.
His team-mate Oscar Piastri’s battery has had an internal component fixed with permission from the FIA, but a final assessment on whether it is in the clear will only be possible after it has run in the car in Friday practice.
“We've put a lot of joint effort [McLaren and Mercedes HPP] into understanding the problem and making sure it doesn't happen again,” Piastri said.
Drivers are usually only allowed two batteries (often referred to as energy stores) per F1 season, but given the major regulation overhaul, they’ve been allowed three batteries for 2026.
It still potentially puts Norris in a tight spot should he encounter further battery issues, as he’ll be slapped with a grid penalty should he exceed the battery limit.
“Alongside HPP, I think it took a little bit of time to figure things out, but yes of course it hurt us as a team, certainly didn’t make us look good to have two cars not starting a race,” Norris said on Thursday at Suzuka.
“What hurt more is the fact that it was out of our control. But with HPP we’ve worked hard to figure things out, to understand how it happened, why it happened, and of course, we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“But you live and you learn. It was a tough one for all of us.”
Context:
Norris loses one of three allowed batteries after McLaren's China GP starting failures, risking future grid penalties.
Context:
Battery failures highlight reliability concerns as F1's major 2026 regulation changes create new technical challenges.
Context:
Teams get an extra battery allowance in 2026 due to the significant rule overhaul affecting power unit systems.
