Max Verstappen recorded his phenomenal 7th consecutive victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix to grab the beautiful trophy. However, as McLaren’s Lando Norris followed him to the podium in P2, so did a disaster for the Dutchman.
In a tight race with the rivals, Verstappen controlled his car spectacularly to grab the historic 12th consecutive victory for Red Bull Racing. Similarly, Norris fought all the hurdles on the track and brought home another podium for the British team, even though it was a difficult race for him.
Standing on the top step for the second time this season, Norris was thrilled as he carried out his iconic maneuver of popping open the champagne bottle. Although, little did he know that in doing so, he would wreck the 2-time world champion’s hard-earned and beautiful trophy.
Lando Norris pops open the champagne and knocks over Max Verstappen’s trophy
Ecstatic with his P2 finish, Lando Norris hits the champagne on the ground to open the bottle. But as he did so, his champagne landed on the trophy, knocked it over from the top step, and broke it into two parts.
As he watched it happen, Norris seemed concerned for split seconds but chose to act nonchalantly and spray the celebratory drink on his fellow drivers. Pictures later emerged showing Verstappen carrying his broken trophy. Whether or not the authorities have an extra trophy remains to be seen.
LANDO BROKE MAXS TROPHY 😭 pic.twitter.com/s6S5r3f3ww
— Pauline 🦦 (@simplylovelyrbr) July 23, 2023
Furthermore, Verstappen seemed to see the funny side of the incident and moved on as the duo shared laughter over the broken trophy. The teams also took to social media to address the incident with funny anecdotes while revealing that there are no hard feelings.
After noticing the event, McLaren tweeted an apology to Red Bull and Verstappen as Red Bull Racing replied, ‘Record broken. Trophy broken.’
🏆💥
We are so, so sorry… @redbullracing and @Max33Verstappen! 🫣#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/eXTC4dLdMO
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 23, 2023
Record broken ✅ Trophy broken 🫣 @McLarenF1 👀 pic.twitter.com/n2UIUAQ23s
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 23, 2023
Lando Norris’ McLaren seems to be closing in on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull
Norris recorded the 8th podium of his career at the Hungarian GP with the P2 finish. However, he revealed that it was not an easy race for him as the race started.
Toward the end of the race, the 23-year-old driver was being chased down by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, but luckily, Perez did not have enough pace. The new upgrades in the Mclaren have brought them closer to Red Bull and Max Verstappen, but whether they will defeat them remains to be seen.
In the post-race interview, when asked about his chances of winning a race this season, Norris said, “The guys are too quick. Unless they make mistakes or something happens. I think at the minute, we are very happy with the progress we have made.”