Australian F1 driver drinks champagne out of his sweaty shoe for some reason
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Daniel Ricciardo had plenty of reason to celebrate following the German Grand Prix. He finished in second and the points put him in the top 3 in the 2016 driver standings -- but his celebration was ... weird. Unless you’re Australian.
The commentators don’t know what to make of it. “Maybe it’s an Aussie tradition, I don’t know.” Yes, that’s precisely what it is. Welcome to the “Shoey,” an Australian custom that involves drinking booze from your shoe. Normally it’s a beer, but victory champagne is totally fine as well.
That said, doing a shoey after the GP is sort of gross. Keep in mind that the race finished in just over 1.5 hours. Even a cautious estimate would mean Ricciardo has his shoe on for three hours. If you consider warmups, preparation etc. that’s not hard to imagine. Now consider that it was about 76 degrees outside. It’s generally accepted that the temperature in an F1 cockpit sits between 15 and 20 degrees above ambient temperature — so there was a lot of sweat in those shoes. A whole lot of sweat.
Daniel Ricciardo drank it.
