That the Aussies love a good brew is not something new. But when Daniel Ricciardo used his racing boots to drink the champagne from after finishing second in the German GP earlier this year, he introduced a quintessential Aussie tradition to the sport.
On Thursday, Ricciardo enlightened the F1 media about the origins of the ‘Shoey’. “I didn’t start it! Well, as far as I know I started it in Formula One but not worldwide. It was a few loose Aussies, from what I saw, the Mad Hueys, they’re surfies and fisherman and just loose guys, they travel the world fishing, surfing and whatever and they like to drink a bit of beer and whatnot, and that’s where the shoey began.”
“I know Jack Miller knows a few of the guys from the Mad Hueys, so when he got his win in Assen (Moto GP), I suspected he was going to do it, and he did, so I thought I’d keep the Australian tradition going.”
Since then, former F1 driver Mark Webber continued the Aussie tradition when he gamely took upon Ricciardo’s challenge at the Belgian GP, where he conducted the podium interviews. Recently Moto GP legend Valentino Rossi joined the act on the podium after the last race at Misano.
So how does it taste?
“Honestly, if the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good. Normally it’s cold on the podium, if it’s warm then sure, you’d get the sweat and that through it – but the cold taste kills the bad stuff, so it’s delicious, as we said,” said the Red Bull driver.
With Red Bull expecting to be strong here, Ricciardo has promised to do it once again. “If I win, sure! If it’s just a second or third probably not now. For a victory, I’d expect to see a few people do it with me!”
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