The Hungarian GP 2023 is done with Red Bull star Max Verstappen taking to the chequered flag ahead of the rest of the grid for the 44th time in his F1 career. With this exceptional victory, Red Bull also took over the 1988-held record by McLaren for most consecutive wins. However, that was not the only thing that was broken today. McLaren did lose the record but gave it back to Red Bull in their own cheeky way, even if accidentally.
The race was an exciting one for sure, full of thrill and adrenaline-inducing action right from the start to the end. McLaren driver Lando Norris took the second step of the podium and Perez followed him in third ending his long-standing slurp. When this trio went up on the podium to celebrate, Norris pulled off his signature champagne bottle-thumping move. However, in doing so. he accidentally caused Verstappen winning trophy to trip down the podium and break into pieces.
As chaotic as it got, the two drivers and teams took it sportingly. Verstappen even remembered Norris in his after-race Instagram post. It was a strong weekend for both drivers personally as well. While Max helped his team shatter a decades-old record, Lando delivered back-to-back podiums to the Papaya team. Interestingly, when Lando was asked about the trophy shenanigans, he cheekily pinned the blame on Max.
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Lando Norris Blames Max Verstappen For $45000 Trophy Damage
The Briton shares a great relationship with Max. The two are often there to acknowledge the mutual talent and Max has hyped Lando and his skills on more than one occasion. Considerably, when this happened, some healthy back and forth was surely expected by the fans. Lando didn’t fail to deliver on his part. He blamed the Red Bull driver and race winner for the entire thing.
Speaking about what had happened in the post-race press conference, Norris smiled when he reckoned it was Verstappen’s fault for having left the trophy in a bad place. “Max just placed it too close to the edge. It fell over, I guess. Not my problem. It’s his,” said Norris.
McLaren was quick to reconcile with an apology post on multiple social media platforms. Moreover, after the entire celebration debacle, fans got interested in the Hungarian GP trophy and its worth. As per Motorsport.com, “The #HungarianGP trophies are made by Herendi Porcelanmanufaktura Zrt,” he wrote on Twitter. “All are handmade, production time is approximately six months and it costs ~ 40.000 euros.”
After an exceptionally fun and competitive weekend in Hungary, the paddock will now move to Spa-Franchorchamps for the upcoming Belgian GP.
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