Norris cuts hand after failed bottle trick

Lando Norris was in the wars after the Italian Grand Prix, but thankfully it won’t threaten his involvement in the Tuscan GP.

The barmy events of Monza made sure that the 2020 Italian Grand Prix will go down as an all-time F1 classic.

A Safety Car, red flags and a 10-second stop-go penalty for race leader Lewis Hamilton all contributed to flipping the usual pecking order on its head for the latter stages of the race.

The end result was Pierre Gasly taking his first win in Formula 1, repeating the magic of Sebastian Vettel’s first victory in the series at Monza in 2008 with the Toro Rosso team.

Norris’ McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz would finish P2, while Racing Point’s Lance Stroll completed the podium.

You have to go back to the 2014 season-opening Australian Grand Prix for the last time that McLaren scored a P2 finish in F1, so the celebration was on.

Sainz of course earned himself a big bottle of the bubbly for P2, whilst Norris was armed with a more modest bottle for the teams’ own celebrations.

Norris’ party trick with champagne in-hand is to bang it several times on the ground to cause it to burst up into the air.

Sadly this time he put a little too much force into it and the bottle smashed, cutting Norris’ hand in the process.

Luckily Norris’ hand needed to be bandaged only as a precaution and he will be fine to compete in the upcoming Tuscan Grand Prix as Formula 1 visits Mugello for the first time.

We think it is about time that McLaren stick Lando in bubble wrap. He also couldn’t hijack Daniel Ricciardo’s Sky F1 interview without whacking his shin on the stage.

But in all seriousness, Norris was left rather frustrated after the Italian GP, saying a “stupid rule” gave Stroll an undeserved podium.

That rule being Appendix 41.4 of the Sporting Regulations which allowed Stroll to effectively gain a free pit stop under the red flags since a drivers’ tyres can be changed during the break.

“The only reason I think I was not on the podium today was Stroll benefitted from a free pit stop. It is a stupid rule. They just get it for free and they don’t deserve it, in many ways,” he told Sky F1.

“I’m still proud [of finishing P4]. And the only way I would have finished in P2 [where team-mate Carlos Sainz had finished] was if I qualified ahead on Saturday.

“I couldn’t have got ahead of Carlos today. He did everything he needed to do.”

Source: planetf1.com