Marc Marquez avoided a repeat of Lando Norris trophy gaffe

MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix winner Marc Marquez admits he moved his trophy out of harms way to avoid repeating Formula 1 driver Lando Norris’ 2023 Hungaroring gaffe.

Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez dominated Sunday’s 26-lap Hungarian Grand Prix at Balaton Park, which was the first for the series in the country since 1992.

Starting from pole, Marquez overcame contact on lap one with Marco Bezzecchi to rebound from third to the lead after 10 laps.

He would get to the chequered flag 4.3s clear of the chasing pack to celebrate his seventh successive grand prix victory.

Since stepping onto Ducati machinery last year at Gresini Racing, Marquez’s celebrations have become more energetic.

Marc Marquez avoided Lando Norris gaffe

But on the podium on Sunday at Balaton Park, Marquez took a moment to move his porcelain winners’ trophy well out of the way before beginning his prosecco celebration.

He later admitted that he was mindful of avoiding what McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris did at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he broke Max Verstappen’s winners’ trophy with his champagne bottle on the podium.

“Yes,” Marquez replied when asked if he was trying to avoid a Norris repeat on the podium.

“Normally I am always jumping with the trophy, but I saw it was slippery and I said ‘ok, I prefer to keep it safe’ because I heard in Spanish TV, on DAZN, that it was a handmade trophy.

“So, I wanted to keep it safe. But it was super nice, this kind of trophy from Hungary that they said to me this white [porcelain] is typical.”

The trophy that Norris smashed took six months to make ahead of the 2023 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, though Verstappen did receive a replacement.

“I do want to apologise for it," Norris later said. 

"It was never my intention to do such a thing. I know how much it means to the Hungarians and it is part of their culture and so forth. 

"Of course I want to enjoy my time but it was never my intention to do such a thing."