27 July 2023 , 15:27
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Lando Norris apologised to Max Verstappen for breaking his Hungarian Grand Prix trophy – but sees no reason to change his style of celebration.
The Brit finished second behind race-winner Verstappen in Budapest last weekend. And during the celebrations on the podium, his actions led to the porcelain trophy smashing.
Verstappen had put the trophy down onto his step of the podium to celebrate with champagne, as is Formula 1 tradition. Having been handed his own bottle, Norris did his usual trick of banging it on the podium to release the cork and get the bubbles flowing.
But the impact of the bottle on the step made the trophy wobble and then fall. Verstappen saw the funny side, laughing about it and then posing for photos while holding pieces of his broken prize.
"I do want to apologise for it," Norris told reporters when asked about it at Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday. "I obviously had no intention to do such a thing, and I know how much it means to the Hungarians and it is part of their culture.
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"It was never my intention to do such a thing and I did apologise to Max, I know I made a couple of jokes about it which maybe I should not have. I know if it was my trophy, I'd be annoyed, so I do apologise for it.
"Obviously, for all the people who put the time and effort into making it, I really didn't mean for it to happen so I'll make sure I am a lot more careful next time celebrating."
Lando Norris apologised but said he won't be changing his signature podium celebration (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)But that does not mean he will cease to produce his party trick of hitting his champagne bottle off the podium. He went on to assert that he won't be changing that particular aspect of his podium celebrations, taking more care in another way instead.
The McLaren racer added: "There's no reason why I should, I'll just take a little bit more care. I'll just move the trophies aside and then continue."
By finishing second in that Budapest race, Norris secured back-to-back podiums for the first time in his F1 career. His team's sudden improvement in performance has thrust them up to fifth in the constructors' standings, comfortably ahead of rivals Alpine.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old is hot on the heels of both Ferrari racers in the drivers' championship. And rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri, who has also been scoring well since being handed the keys to McLaren's upgraded car, is bearing down on the top 10.