Norris goes viral after champagne bottle breaks on São Paulo podium

Lando Norris became a social-media talking point after his Brazilian Grand Prix podium celebration at Interlagos went off script. His customary champagne stunt ended with a shattered bottle, followed by an apparent brush with the podium fireworks.

Norris’s bottle trick backfires on the podium

After collecting his trophy, the McLaren driver crouched and struck the base of the bottle against the ground, aiming to send champagne spraying from the top. Instead, the bottle broke on impact. Norris then stepped forward and appeared to be caught in the face by the fireworks.

He did not appear to be hurt. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, who finished second and third, were with Norris as he laughed off the mishap. Clips of the moment quickly spread online, with fans reacting to the broken bottle and the apparent fireworks encounter.

The stunt is a familiar part of Norris’s celebrations, dating back to his junior racing days. On the F1 Explains podcast last year, he described the technique as striking the bottle on the ground rather than shaking it before spraying. The key, he explained, is making sure the bottle does not break — something that depends on using a thick, strong bottle.

The mishap followed Norris’s third win of the season

The podium comedy did little to overshadow Norris’s result. He won the race by 14.602 seconds over Verstappen in changing conditions, with Hadjar completing the top three. The São Paulo race weekend also featured discussion of available strategy options and the forecast for race day.

For the 2025 champion, the victory was his third of the season. The celebration, however, supplied a separate post-race highlight: a bottle that did not survive its planned role and a moment with the fireworks that Norris and the other drivers appeared to take in good humour.