Christian Horner teases McLaren over trophy smash: “They get the bill!”

Max Verstappen’s prize for winning the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix was embarrassingly broken by Lando Norris as they both celebrated on the podium.

The trophy was later revealed to be worth £35,000 ($44,000) and took six months to be made.

Staggeringly at the next race, as Verstappen celebrated winning the Belgian Grand Prix, another trophy was damaged in Red Bull’s celebrations.

“Technically, Budapest wasn’t our fault! Lando broke that beautiful piece of porcelain which took six months to make, Red Bull team principal Horner joked to ESPN. 

“We now have a collection of bits in our trophy cabinet.

“Absolutely, they get the bill for that one!

“It’s a beautiful trophy, a great piece of porcelain.

“We allow all the staff members to have their photos taken with the trophy after a race win. It’s not a great picture with some bits of porcelain.”

Teased that Norris should spend his summer break fixing the trophy, Horner smiled: “Yes, he should have that challenge!”

He added: “Unfortunately, we had a repeat. There was some damage to the constructors' trophy. Lando wasn’t involved in that one! That one can be repaired.”

Norris did issue a genuine apology after breaking the Hungarian Grand Prix trophy.

“I do want to apologise for it," he said. "I obviously had no intention of ever doing such a thing.

"I know how much it means to the Hungarians and part of their culture. 

“And I did apologise to Max. I know I made a couple of jokes about which maybe I shouldn't have.

"If he did it to my trophy I'd be annoyed. I do apologise for it and obviously to the people who put the time and effort into making it, I really didn't mean for it to happen. I'll make sure I'm a lot more careful next time."