Lando Norris is now at risk of ‘lingering side-effects’ after Mercedes battery issue hampers McLaren

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Lando Norris’ battery issue at the Chinese Grand Prix will hit him with ‘lingering side-effects’ in 2026.

Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were not able to start the race on Sunday due to battery issues that they both encountered moments before the lights went out.

Although Piastri was unable to race, it now appears that he will be able to use the battery that was impacted last week at the Shanghai International Circuit at a later date.

However, it has been discovered that Norris will not be able to use the battery that failed him at the Chinese Grand Prix, as the issue was terminal and has lowered his total amount of batteries from three to two for the remainder of the season.

Having only completed two Grands Prix in 2026, Norris will now have to participate in 20 more race weekends with only two batteries available to him.

Disaster for Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto as they fail to start the Chinese Grand Prix!

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Lando Norris’s battery has been ‘bricked’ after software problem

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, it had been reported by Motorsport.com that Norris would not be able to use the battery he started the season with in Australia.

It is now expected that Norris will have long-term ‘lingering side-effects’ down the road during the 2026 season, as he has now lost one of his batteries from his component pool.

Motorsport report, “Motorsport.com understands Norris’ battery was plagued by a software problem that bricked the battery and made it unusable, and it is believed the unit is permanently damaged and removed from Norris’ component pool.”

“Norris’ battery failure could have lingering side-effects further down the road for the world champion if he suffers more battery-related reliability issues, having now lost one of his three batteries for the year.”

Is Lando Norris’ championship title defence already over?

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Lando Norris says the double DNS ‘didn’t make us look good’

With neither Piastri nor Norris starting last time out, they will be looking to bounce back this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix and make up for the issues that were out of McLaren’s control.

The British driver took a positive spin on things as he said in the press conference that ‘you live, and you learn’ and that McLaren must move on this weekend.

Norris said, “Of course, it hurt us as a team. It certainly didn’t make us look good to have two cars not starting a race. I think what hurt more is the fact 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. None of us want to have a weekend like that, and especially start a Sunday like that. So yeah, it hurt a lot. But I think at the same time, a good time for us to learn and step back and move on to this weekend.”