The entire motorsport community witnessed something bizarre unfold at the Hungarian Grand Prix this year, interestingly enough, not on the track, but during the podium celebrations. Max Verstappen, moments after flaunting his magnificent Porcelain trophy post-race victory at Budapest, found it rambling on the ground, almost entirely shattered, thanks to Lando Norris.
The McLaren driver had just secured a long-yearned podium for McLaren and was seemingly ecstatic with the morale-boosting feat. However, then arrived Norris’ unique podium celebration where he knocks the bottom of the sparkling wine bottle onto the ground to rev up the fizz. Unfortunately for the young Briton, the knock was hard enough to topple Verstappen’s trophy off the podium step.
Max broke a record and Lando broke the trophy, what a day in Hungary. 😅
(🎥: @F1)pic.twitter.com/U4BfFLQCKX
— theScore (@theScore) July 24, 2023
Upon noticing the broken trophy, Verstappen couldn’t do anything but have a laugh with Norris before picking up the broken pieces and walking off. Eventually, reports began dropping out, unraveling the details behind the extravagant podium trophy, and it was eventually revealed that the hand-made Porcelain masterpiece carried a price tag of nearly $45,000 and that it had a lifetime warranty.
Therefore, Herendi Porcelanmanufaktura Zrt publicly confirmed that it would be fast-tracking the recreation of Verstappen’s Hungarian GP trophy. And, quite surprisingly, the exquisite Hungarian manufacturing company managed to complete the process in a mere five weeks.
Lando Norris not allowed anywhere near Max Verstappen amidst new trophy arrival
Upon receiving the newly made trophy, Verstappen jokingly revealed that he wouldn’t let Norris touch his Hungarian GP cup in the future. “It’s in one piece,” the Dutchman said according to Motorsport. “Lando is not allowed to touch it!”
Furthermore, the creators themselves trolled Norris by emphasizing the need to keep his trademark podium celebrations at bay. “As promised, we made it again. The Formula 1 Herendi Trophy is on its way from Herendi to Max Verstappen. We hope that the champagne opening will be cancelled this time,” Herendi’s latest Instagram video revealed.
lando: “don’t let me touch it”
max: “lando’s not allowed to touch it”max verstappens belgian gp trophy is officially fixed after lando accidentally broke it during the podium celebration😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/dW8sYtxpHh
— tiana ⁴ (@literallylando) August 29, 2023
Funnily enough, only a week after the Hungarian Grand Prix incident, Red Bull encountered a similar moment unfolding at the Belgian Grand Prix. During Red Bull’s post-race celebrations outside their garage, the crew managed to topple Verstappen’s race-winning trophy, breaking it yet again.
In the video, Verstappen can be seen walking towards his trophy before bursting into laughter and acknowledging his team boss, Christian Horner. “It’s broken again, the trophy is broken again!” the two-time world champion said. However, despite the damages, it is certain that the Milton Keynes outfit will continue valuing the broken trophies as much as the perfect ones.