Lando Norris apologized for accidentally breaking the trophy Max Verstappen received for winning last week's Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix, promising that he would be more careful during future podium celebrations to avoid what led to the winner's trophy getting smashed. The incident occurred after Norris finished second to Verstappen at the Hungaroring.
During the podium celebration, Norris banged his champagne bottle off the podium as he usually does in order to pop the cork, which led to the trophy -- set down by Verstappen as he was trying to begin his own celebration -- being knocked off the top step and shattered as it hit the ground. The porcelain trophy, which took six months for Herendi Porcelain to make, reportedly cost around £34,577 (~$38K USD) to manufacture.
It's bwoken! 😮😂#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/nTtgdfWX3o
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2023
Both Norris and Verstappen laughed the incident off, but the British driver apologized for what occurred during media obligations for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.
"I know how much it means to the Hungarians and part of their culture... and I did apologize to Max," Norris said. "I know I made a couple of jokes about which maybe I shouldn't but I do feel bad for (him).
"If he did it to my trophy I'd be annoyed. I do apologize for it and obviously to the people who put the time and effort into making it, I really didn't mean for it to happen. I'll make sure I'm a lot more careful next time."
Though his standard post-race method of popping the cork created an awkward predicament, Norris said he did not intend to change his method of celebration, instead stating he would make sure to move the trophy over next time.
Granted, it isn't as though Verstappen's trophy was irreplaceable -- the Hungarian Grand Prix marked Verstappen's ninth victory in 11 races this season, and Herendi Porcelain CEO Attila Simon told M4 Sport in Hungary that Verstappen would get a new trophy to replace the broken one.
