An ecstatic Lando Norris celebrated McLaren’s newfound pace last year by performing his iconic celebration on the Hungarian Grand Prix podium. However, in the process, he also broke Max Verstappen’s winner’s trophy. The Briton regretted his mistake and has now come out with a special helmet for the 2024 Hungarian GP to make up for it.
Norris will wear a helmet designed and hand-painted by Herend Porcelain Manufactory. It is the same brand that made the 2023 trophy that Norris mistakenly broke. In a video, Norris details how it wasn’t an idea that came to him just a few weeks ago. It was something that’s been in the work for over eight months.
I still can’t believe the extreme hate Lando got last year
He apologised to everyone he needed to, regretted it and wished he could go back and change it.
And spent 8 months making this helmet wanting to show his appreciation to the company pic.twitter.com/7hiTa3Iup5— Tam ⁴ (@F1Tami) July 19, 2024
Explaining how he regretted breaking the trophy, Norris said, “I didn’t mean to do it in the first place. Something I regret. If I could rewind time, I would go back and undo it.” He then added, “This is my way of making up for it”, as he unraveled the 2024 Hungarian GP helmet.
Norris went on to add that it’s also his way of showing appreciation for the traditional Hungarian porcelain. Yet, the Briton received immense backlash last year when the incident happened. Norris apologized to all the parties involved in it and yet felt the need to do more for this year’s race.
The trophy broken by Norris is said to have cost $45,000 and took six months to build and hand paint. It had a special pink design on it to celebrate the release of Barbie.
Nonetheless, Verstappen received a new trophy later in the year as a replacement for the broken one. And now Norris also went a step further to protect the brand’s craftsmanship.
Norris will not sell minis of his Hungarian GP Helmet
Norris has his own merchandising platform by the name LN4. The Brit is releasing a special Hungarian GP collection called “Porcelain Dreams” for the fans. However, a fan asked if the Hungarian GP mini helmet will be available on the site.
The LN4 Twitter account replied that it wouldn’t be made available. Their post read, “No minis for this one as the helmet was delicately hand-painted by the team at Herend. This drop is our way of sharing the art with you!”
Since it took eight months for Herend to hand-paint Norris’ helmet, it does not seem feasible for the organization to do the same for multiple helmets. Moreover, Norris is also protecting the craftsmanship of traditional Hungarian porcelain by not making it available worldwide in bulk.
