Ahead of his first home race, Stoffel Vandoorne's chances of a good result have already been hit as the Belgian will start from the back of the grid at Spa-Francorchamps due to engine penalties.

It was already set to be a difficult weekend for McLaren as their Honda engine will put them at a major disadvantage around the power-hungry Spa layout, but further upgrades are being brought by the Japanese manufacturer in an effort to try and close the performance gap both in Belgium and next weekend at Monza.

As a result, Vandoorne, who scored his first point of the year at the last race in Hungary, will take a completely new power unit resulting in a total penalty of 35 grid places for Sunday's race.

The problems Honda have had are clear when looking at the number of each component Vandoorne's car has used. Eight turbos and eight MGU-H's is double the number of each allowed over the season and the year is only just past halfway, six batteries and ECU's plus five internal combustion engines and MGU-K's, a quite staggering tally.

More penalties over the final nine races are almost certain as Honda promises two or three upgrades between now and the end of the season but hopefully it will be improvements rather than failures that force that hand.

Should the running of the improved components be successful, it is anticipated Fernando Alonso will receive them for the Italian Grand Prix and the same 35-place grid penalty that will go with it.

Details of the updates will be given by Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa when he speaks to the media on Friday.