BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Max Verstappen was left with a broken trophy after Red Bull smashed a Formula One record at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Red Bull’s double world champion put the porcelain winner’s trophy down while preparing to spray the champagne but McLaren’s Lando Norris sent it tumbling off the top step when he bashed the ground to open his bottle.
Verstappen left, smiling, with the broken pink pot tucked under his arm.
“Sorry Max,” McLaren said on their Twitter feed.
“We’re gonna need some glue,” Red Bull replied, after a post declaring ‘Record broken. Trophy broken” with a tick and embarrassed emoji.
“We can’t take you anywhere. Glad to have you up there with us though.”
Norris, who finished second, and Verstappen are good friends and they could joke about the trophy in the post-race press conference.
“I’m not sure,” said Norris bashfully when asked what happened, to laughter and despite the evidence being seen by millions around the world.
“Max just placed it too close to the edge. It fell over I guess. Not my problem, it’s his.”
Red Bull’s 12th win in a row beat McLaren’s 1988 run of 11 successive wins. The victory was also Verstappen’s seventh in a row and ninth in 11 races this season, sending him 110 points clear of team mate and third-placed Sergio Perez.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
