F1: Lando Norris smashes Verstappen's trophy and tries to look innocent

McLaren driver Lando Norris was caught on live television smashing Max Verstappen's trophy on the podium of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, and then cheekily trying to walk away from the scene of the crime.

The reigning world champion won the race with Norris taking second place. The final podium spot was taken by Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, and all three took part in the customary champagne celebrations at the end of the race.

After being handed their trophies, all three drivers left their handmade porcelain trophies on their respective podium spots to start spraying the champagne. Verstappen immediately rushed over to spray his teammate, while Norris lifted his magnum and slammed it on the top step of the podium in an attempt to get the fizz activated.

In doing so, he knocked over Verstappen's trophy, which was resting on the platform. It could be seen falling over and breaking into at least three pieces with a number of smaller shattered parts.

The main body of the trophy broke off from the base, and the top was also shattered. What made the whole incident even more crazy was how Norris proceeded to step over the broken trophy to continue spraying champagne.

It took a few moments for Verstappen to realise what had happened, and Norris should be considered lucky that the Dutchman was happy enough to see the humour in the incident. Both of them could be seen laughing but with their mouths agape in disbelief. Verstappen was laughing hard while tapping Norris on the shoulder, indicating that there were no hard feelings. Of course, it helped a lot that the two-time world champion already has a number of trophies adorning his cabinet.

Some fans also found the incident hilarious, with many joking that Verstappen won't miss yet another trophy. Some also loved how Norris simply walked away nonchalantly after seeing the trophy shatter.

Others, meanwhile, thought that it was very rude of him to damage a competitor's trophy. Furthermore, many were not amused by how he did not appear to care about what he did and proceeded to act as if nothing happened.

It is unclear how the trophy will be repaired, but some Hungarian fans were clearly annoyed, pointing out how much time, effort and craftsmanship went into creating the handmade trophies. "Not the best use of the 33 thousand € worth of precious #Hungarian #Herendi #Porcelain #cup especially if you are 2nd and it is not yours," tweeted one F1 fan.

Nevertheless, Verstappen seemed unbothered, with the Red Bull team even sharing a photo of the damaged trophy hours later.

Norris was ecstatic with his podium finish despite a tight race

Up at the front, it was a predictable ending after Verstappen led from the opening corner after overtaking pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton. He secured a 12th consecutive victory for Red Bull Racing, and his ninth of the ongoing season.

While the reigning world champion appeared unbeatable. things were a lot more exciting behind him. Norris was initially bogged down by Hamilton as the Mercedes driver tried to defend his position from the flying Dutchman. In the process, the other McLaren driven by Oscar Piastri managed to slip past both of them to take second place.

Hamilton lost out as Norris took third place behind his teammate, and it soon became clear that the Mercedes did not have enough pace to challenge the McLarens.

Norris waited patiently behind Piastri but made his move during the pit stops. He was aggressive in his out-lap and managed to get his nose ahead of his teammate. Norris then sat comfortably in second place for a number of laps until the charging Red Bull of Sergio Perez started to make progress. The Mexican was eventually able to overtake everyone until Piastri, but he did not have enough time to catch Norris.

"Not an easy one, especially with Checo [Perez] catching at the end. But he didn't have enough pace to catch up, so I'm happy," said Norris. After two consecutive podium finishes, he really couldn't be happier, especially how they could not even make it out of Q1 at the start of the season.

"To go from where we were four, five races ago, struggling to make it out of Q1 to fighting for poles and for podiums, we'll take it for now and our time will come later in the year."

McLaren were languishing at the back of the pack at the start of the season, and it looked like they were set to endure a miserable year. However, massively effective upgrades were introduced three races ago in Austria, seeing Norris finish fourth, second and second again since then.

While one could almost brew a cup of coffee while waiting for him to cross the line behind Verstappen, the fact that he was able to hold off Perez is already a massive achievement for the 23-year-old Briton.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted that he is relieved that the upgrades are paying off. After a dismal start to the season, he acknowledged that there was a risk of losing a huge talent like Norris. "I think the way you keep him is you give him a good race car," Brown said.