The Fate of the Boot that Ricciardo used for his ‘Shoey’

During the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo triumphed after a drama-filled race. It was at that moment that he came up with an unusual celebration, dubbed the Shoey. The practice consisted of Ricciardo taking off his boot, pouring champagne in it and drinking out of it. Don’t ask how it tastes, because I don’t know and I don’t think I want to know.

Afterwards, nobody put much thought about the strange practice. But since then, nobody knows what happened to that boot. It is safe to assume that Ricciardo did not put it back on. But now, it has transpired that the boot was kept by former F1 driver and pundit, Martin Brundle. The shoe was put up for auction in aid of The Grand Prix Trust charity with the reserve price of $8,000. Sadly, the price was not met and the shoe went unsold.

Interestingly, this was not the first time that the Shoey has been performed. Back in 2016, fellow Australian, Jack Miller had won his first MotoGP race at the TT Assen. He then proceeded to perform the Shoey.

Earlier this year, Liberty Media and F1 elected to trademark the celebration. Ricciardo has even got celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart and Gerard Butler to drink champagne from his shoe after winning races.

The Shoey has been a popular celebration in Australia for around 15 years thanks to surfing and fishing brand, The Mad Hueys. Dean and Shaun Harrington, known as the face of this brand, have been quoted saying they drunk Shoeys as early as 2002. As The Mad Hueys accelerated in popularity more personalities got in on the act with Ricciardo being one of the latest.

But it isn’t really recommended to perform this action as there is a danger of falling ill. Not only is there abundant bacteria present in the fabric of the shoe, but testing — under strict laboratory conditions — by the ABC reveals that champagne is possibly the worst alcoholic beverage you could add to it. In essence, bubbles and sweaty shoes just don’t mix.

The combination produces a toxic cocktail that may well lead to an unscheduled and extremely unwanted pit stop for Daniel and fellow shoey enthusiasts who follow his lead. Baku podium debutant, Lance Stroll was also urged to do it by Ricciardo. The Canadian admitted on the podium that he would probably be scarred for life before chugging it.