Lando Norris Goes Viral After Champagne Bottle Smashes in Brazil
Lando Norris went viral after his champagne bottle shattered on the podium in São Paulo and fireworks appeared to hit his face. The McLaren driver was unhurt, laughed it off and took his third win of the season by 14.602 seconds over Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris went viral on social media after his champagne bottle smashed on the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo, and podium fireworks appeared to hit him in the face. The McLaren driver did not seem hurt and was seen laughing about it.
Norris had controlled almost everything at Interlagos until that moment. He beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 14.602 seconds in changing conditions for his third win of the season. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar finished third.
The 2025 champion tried his usual celebration after collecting the trophy. He crouches and slams the base of the bottle on the ground so the contents fizz out of the top. This time the bottle gave way and broke on the floor.
Norris then stepped forward and appeared to take the fireworks full in the face. Verstappen, Hadjar and McLaren's deputy chief designer Andy Parker then showered him with champagne.
Fans react online
"Broke the bottle, walked into the fireworks. Not a win he'll forget easily," one fan commented on Reddit. Another wrote: "Another Lando classic moment on the podium."
A third post read: "This was hilarious. Breaks the bottle, takes the pyrotechnics to the face, and is then immediately sprayed by all three of them while dying of embarrassment."
Norris has celebrated this way since his junior racing days. He explained the technique on the F1 Explains podcast last year. "The trick here is to not smash it," he said. "And the trick to that is by having a very, very thick, strong bottle."
Last year he also said: "I'm waiting for the day it goes horribly wrong, but touch wood, not happened just yet."
It was not his first podium breakage. At the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2023, he kicked Verstappen's race-winning trophy to the ground while jumping to celebrate. It broke, and the promoters had to make a new one.
A race of two halves
Norris started on pole but lost the lead to Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the run to Turn 1. He took it back later when Antonelli had a moment at that corner, and he kept it to the finish. It was his 14th career win.
Mercedes secured the constructors' championship at the race.
"It was a very tough race," Norris said afterward. "I didn't have the best of launches off the line." He said he kept his composure and made no mistakes. "Nice to be back on the top step and what a place to do it as well."
He thanked his team for working hard through a run of weeks without a good result. "We will have to keep pushing until the end of the year," Norris said.
