Showing off on the podium after winning the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Lando Norris made his first misstep of an afternoon that had challenged the Formula 1 drivers to their very limits.
Norris jumped off the top step, and tried to do his signature move, where he uncorks the champagne bottle by bashing it into the ground.
Except that, not for the first time, the force of his jump pushed things too far, and he smashed the bottle.
Then, holding up the shattered top to the crowd below, he stepped backwards and inadvertently put the side of his head into the sparkles blowing up from the fireworks on the front of the platform.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar showed no pity, and proceeded to drench him with the contents of their bottles.
In any case, Norris was fine, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed shortly afterwards, and the Briton showed no ill effects in his post-race interviews.
It was, he said, "one of the hardest races of the year in terms of focus needed every lap and therefore one of the best".
Norris wins gripping race after Antonelli and Russell errors
Norris brilliant in wet & Verstappen recovery extraordinary - driver ratings
Interlagos did what it often can, and threw everything at the drivers. The race started on a wet track, which dried progressively. There was more rain at the end.
Through it all, Norris was virtually impeccable. He made new world champion Kimi Antonelli look fallible for pretty much the first time all year, and then fended off what at one point was threatening to be one of those days when Verstappen appears to have descended from the Gods.
It says a lot for Norris' performance that it overshadowed Verstappen's drive from 21st on the grid to finish second.
Actually, perhaps the race had also started with a small blemish from the man who has had to hand his title of world champion to Antonelli this year without ever really being able to defend it.
Starting from pole, Norris was relatively slow away, at least compared with the Italian, and Antonelli blasted into a lead that for a while looked as if he would not lose.
But after the Mercedes driver had built an eight-second advantage in the first 13 laps, Norris began to come back at him as the track dried.
Stopping for slick tyres a lap before Antonelli cut a seven-second deficit to nothing, and when three laps later the new champion spun at Turn One under pressure from the old, Norris was promoted into a lead that he never again looked like losing.
"A lot was thrown at everyone on a day like today, but it was probably one of our best races in terms of execution and pit stops, timing of things," Norris said.
"We boxed one lap early on to the slicks. I came out and was right behind him and forced him to push a little bit more, and obviously he went into a mistake and I could capitalise on it.
"So, in terms of always being there where we needed to be, being able to put people under pressure was a very good day for that.
"Also, from my side, just not making any mistakes, which is so easy to do on a day like today. So, great performance from the whole team. Certainly up there with one of the best I've ever had."
For both Norris and McLaren, it was a welcome return to form. They started the year slowly, having fallen behind in development on their 2026 car as they diverted resources to ensure they got their title double over the line last year.
By mid-summer, they had caught up, and Norris took two consecutive wins either side of the summer break, and was unlucky not to get another in Madrid in September.
But then other teams overtook them again and McLaren have toiled relatively in recent races, especially in qualifying.
But the combination in Sao Paulo of some new parts, the circuit characteristics suiting them, and Norris excelling in the wet in qualifying and race, put him back in the game.
In so doing, he provided a performance that served as a reminder that he has been one of the drivers of the year, even if his equipment has not always met his exalted standards.
Stella said: "When Lando operates at his best, he's definitely one of the best drivers on the grid.
"We have seen that in these conditions, like yesterday (in qualifying), it's not the first time that when you have mixed variable conditions, he kind of is one of the fastest in finding the limit.
"And you have seen this today as well, when the track was in the middle between dry and wet. It was when he was probably gaining most throughout the races on anybody else.
"He's very sensitive in understanding how much grip is available. And very, I would say, even complete as a driver, despite he's still many years ahead of him, from a technical point of view, in terms of understanding how to deploy his tools to use the grip that is available, or to adapt to the balance of the car, because you're never going to have a really perfect car.
"You're never going to have the perfect conditions. So adaptability is actually probably the most important feature that you may want to possess as a driver. When there's a need to understand what's best, how to operate, he's definitely a master."
Verstappen raced with a car 'not in good shape'
For a time, it looked as if Verstappen might be in the running for a win.
A penalty for using too many engines this year left the four-time champion four places lower than the position from which he had won in similar slippery conditions at Interlagos two years ago.
So when he was up to fifth, and less than 15 seconds behind leader Antonelli, by the time the pit stops for dry tyres were looming on lap 15, with 56 still to go and more rain predicted, it looked ominous.
But once on to the slicks, Verstappen was not a threat to Norris on pace, even when heavy rain returned in the closing laps.
"That first stint went really, really well," Verstappen said. "We got very quickly back into the top 10, and the pace wasn't bad.
"But as soon as I switched to the slicks, I had an extreme amount of oversteer in the car in the high-speed corners, which made it super difficult to drive.
"So, we need to understand if something broke on the car, some kind of aero loss or whatever, because this was not normal.
"I sit here, of course, very happy with second, but at the same time, I know there was more in it if the car had been in good shape.
"Unfortunately, that was not the case. I actually did most of the race with a car that was not in good shape, and to finish second, of course, is fantastic.
"Maybe next year I'd love to start a bit further up front instead of starting from the back or the pit lane."
Mercedes back on top - but Wolff not expecting era of dominance
For a time, Antonelli looked set to celebrate clinching the title and becoming F1's youngest ever champion a week before in Mexico with a win.
But his most uncharacteristic spin ended that hope, and took him out of contention.
"Very disappointing because we were on for the win up to that point," he said.
"Also in this slicks, once I was able to get some temperature, I was getting to the rhythm, but yeah, the spin came, which still is something I need to look at because I don't know why I lost the rear so quickly as well, like no warning, nothing."
It was another bad day for team-mate George Russell, too, who had done excellent work to move up to third place right behind Norris after starting seventh.
He looked the one driver able to threaten Norris for raw pace, but his afternoon unravelled even before Antonelli's, when he spun exiting the pits and turned a 1.2-second deficit to the McLaren into 20. That was it for his hopes of a win.
Still, a fourth and a fifth place for Russell and Antonelli at the end was more than enough for Mercedes to clinch the constructors' championship. It was the team's ninth - but their first since 2021, after a difficult time through the last rule set.
Antonelli said: "I'm going to put all this aside for now because the team, you know, take the title, we take the title for the team and they all deserve it.
"I'm very proud to be part of this group and this team who has done and still does so much for me and I'm very happy for them."
Like Antonelli, team boss Toto Wolff was as focused on the lessons of the day and year as he was on the success.
He reflected on the fact that while Mercedes had dominated the first half of the season, not only have they been caught in the second, but upgrades brought to the car a few races ago did not have the expected effect.
"Look at the last few races," Wolff said. "We haven't won.
"Then today at the beginning of the race, Kimi was just storming away. It looked like this could be ours. But the competition has been getting tougher between Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and ourselves.
"It's four teams that can win races and will be challenging for a world championship. And I have no doubt that this is going to be very difficult for us next year."
Wolff is pleased that Mercedes have found their way back to the front after struggling relatively through what was known as the ground-effect era.
But he says he does not expect this to be the start of another dominant era such as they enjoyed with Lewis Hamilton in the last decade.
"Looking back, those last four years were very difficult between getting it wrong and then kind of understanding why it was wrong and then realising, no, we didn't understand. And that was a bit back and forth," he said.
"It wasn't that bad at all when you look at the sheer numbers, but it felt not good. And the resilience of the team, the people that held together in those tough times is a factor.
"So it feels really good sealing those two titles. Not many sports teams have done that after consecutive run of championships, then a difficult spell and then coming back.
"It looks like the most maybe competitive era that is about to start, because the teams have become so professional in capability, in resource, that this kind of runaway seasons, I don't see them any more, whether it's four in a row or eight in a row. And that is a completely new challenge.
"You can see how quickly it goes from being dominant. And within a few races, you realise that your upgrade doesn't work and you fall back and you're just third on the road.
"It's great for the sport. I wished it was the era of Mercedes and me running away with another few championships. I don't think it's the reality."
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