Lando Norris “Stole” Iconic Podium Celebration as Candid Confession Brings Back Hungarian GP Blunder

F1 is not only about intense races and rivalries. From Carlos Sainz belting out ‘Smooth Operator’ on team radio to Daniel Ricciardo’s famous ‘Shoey’, each celebration becomes iconic. Recently, McLaren driver Lando Norris captured the motorsport community’s attention with his distinctive podium celebrations. It is a ritual for the winner and the podium holders to spray champagne on each other. So what’s so special about Norris’ celebration? Evidently, Lando’s festivities were rather iconic, with his habit of hitting the bottom part of the bottle for champagne pop.

As authentic as it may look, Lando Norris finally admitted the origins of his celebration. Earlier in June, Norris was at the UEFA Champions League finals at Wembley. He also presented the Player of The Match award to Dani Carvajal. When he was asked about the origins of his champagne pop, Lando said, “My friend started doing it, he had one podium, and I stole it from him.” Norris is happy to carry on what his friend once did. He gives full credit to his friend, whose gesture he took, made it his own, and turned it into an iconic F1 moment.

The interviewer didn’t miss her chance at making a comment, saying: “Make a mark, even if you break a trophy“. This brings back memories of that one blunder Norris caused last year. Celebrations never hurt individuals, and reports of damage are rare. Except for that one time, when Lando Norris broke Max Verstappen’s trophy at the 2023 Hungarian GP. Many speculated that the incident could mar the bond these two drivers share. But ultimately they had a good laugh about it. Let’s take a look back at what happened at the Hungaroring!

Lando Norris broke Verstappen’s trophy in Budapest

In a humorous and slightly embarrassing moment at the Budapest Grand Prix, Lando Norris accidentally knocked Max Verstappen’s P1 trophy off the podium, breaking it into pieces, while celebrating by slamming his bottle on the podium. Norris looked guilty and shared a smile with Verstappen upon realizing the damage. “I apologized to Max and made a couple of jokes about it which maybe I shouldn’t have. I  feel bad, if he did it to my trophy I’d feel annoyed. To the people who put the time and effort into making it, really didn’t mean for it to happen and I’ll be a lot more careful next time,“ Lando Norris had told the media back then.

Since the accident was unintentional both the drivers, laughed about it and moved on. Verstappen was later sent a brand new trophy, which Lando himself had presented it. Keeping aside this one mishap and another one where Lando broke his bottle of Ferrari Trento itself, his celebration has not harmed anyone. So now, fans of Lando Norris and F1 await his signature celebration, just to witness his champagne pop. And as it’s said, ‘it never gets old.’

Hence, it won’t be too much of a drag to say, that if he ever stops this, it will be missed heavily. After all, who would be so gutsy to bang a huge glass bottle of fizzy champagne? Are you excited to see what Lando does at the Spanish Grand Prix next week? Let us know in the comments.