The McLaren driver endured a troubled start when his car stopped on track during second practice, forcing the team into overnight investigations.
McLaren also broke curfew to carry out urgent repairs as they worked to get the car ready for the rest of the weekend.
Although the initial issue in practice was linked to the battery system, Norris’ race came to a premature end due to a separate failure involving the internal combustion engine.
The setbacks have left Norris in a difficult position with his season allocation of power unit components. He confirmed he is already on his third power unit of the year, meaning any further changes are likely to trigger a grid penalty.
“The problem for me is I’m already on my third power unit,” Norris said. “Any more and I’m taking penalties. Hopefully that’s not the case, but I don’t really know what to expect anymore. It feels like every weekend there’s something.”
Norris also pointed to wider reliability concerns across Mercedes’ power unit programme, suggesting the issue is not limited to McLaren alone. He referenced the struggles faced by George Russell as part of a broader pattern affecting multiple drivers.
“I wouldn’t say George is having the best season either,” Norris said. “We just need to assess the struggles we have. Mercedes has had its fair share of issues. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.”
The McLaren driver stressed that while individual performances remain important, the focus must now shift to solving the underlying reliability problems within the team’s power unit partnership with Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.
“It’s not just McLaren,” Norris added. “Between HPP and McLaren we have to do a better job, because at the moment it’s not good enough.”
The next Formula 1 race is the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, taking place from 12–14 June at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. The main Grand Prix race will be held on Sunday.
