Bizarre scene: Why was São Paulo winner Norris hit by fireworks?

That’s typical of Lando Norris: the Englishman has a habit of slamming his champagne bottle down on the floor of the podium so hard that the cork flies out.

After his fine victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix, things went wrong twice over: the bottle shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving a bewildered Norris holding only the neck of the bottle in his left hand.

As the Briton had also been thoroughly doused with champagne by the two Red Bull Racing drivers, Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar – some of it getting into his eyes – Norris couldn’t see properly and stumbled straight into the path of volcanic fireworks on the podium.

The shower of sparks struck Norris on the head. Norris immediately flinched to the side and clutched his ear. Fortunately, the two-time São Paulo Grand Prix winner was unharmed, as McLaren team principal Andrea Stelle later confirmed. Norris did not sustain any injuries from the broken bottle either.

That isn’t always the case: in 2020 at Monza, the bottle also shattered, and Lando suffered cuts.

Also unforgettable are the scenes in Hungary in 2023, when Norris wanted to perform his bottle trick. The bottle was completely unfazed, but the impact caused Max Verstappen’s winner’s vase, standing next to it, to wobble; it promptly toppled over and shattered. The organisers later made a new one for the Dutchman.