Broken trophy curse strikes Red Bull again in Belgian Grand Prix celebrations

Jamie Woodhouse
Max Verstappen and Red Bull celebrate victory. Belgium, July 2023.

Red Bull now has another broken victory trophy to deal with, the team themselves this time causing the damage at Spa.

With Max Verstappen starting P6 on the grid after a five-place grid drop for taking a new gearbox, only the bravest of the brave had predicted that this setback would be one to cost Verstappen victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.

And indeed, once Verstappen had passed team-mate Sergio Perez on Lap 17, there was no looking back, the Dutchman going on to win by a margin of over 22 seconds as Perez completed the Red Bull one-two.

Now Red Bull break their winner’s trophy

It was at the previous weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix where Verstappen’s winner’s trophy suffered an unfortunate fate when Lando Norris’ podium celebrations went wrong, causing the porcelain trophy to fall to the floor and smash.

The creator has since set about manufacturing a replacement, and it seems now that Red Bull may have another replacement trophy order to put in, this time the damage all their own doing.

As the team celebrated their one-two finish for the cameras with their collection of prizes from the Belgian GP proudly displayed, the team stampede towards the cameras as part of the celebrations left their winning constructors’ trophy with no chance!

As the cheers fell to an awkward hush and Verstappen turned to look back, he would exclaim: “It’s broken again! The trophy’s broken again!”

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At least this time, poor Norris will be spared a barrage of questions as we wait to hear how this latest trophy repair mission will play out!

Red Bull and Verstappen will hope that such incidents do not keep happening, with the Dutchman likely to win plenty more grands prix before the season is over, his Belgian GP triumph proving to be his eighth win in a row and 10th of the F1 2023 campaign.

But, despite the lack of competition he is facing in the push for victories, he is having no trouble with motivation whatsoever.

“This keeps the fire burning,” he declared after his Belgian GP win. “If I have to rock up and I have no chance of winning then the fire starts to go away.”

Verstappen is now 125 points clear of Perez at the top of theDrivers’ Championship.

Read next:Christian Horner speaks out on messages from ‘demanding customer’ Max Verstappen

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