A rite of passage for Lance Stroll

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Just a few weeks ago, Williams' teenage rookie driver Lance Stroll was under attack from all sides for failing to deliver. The team said to give him time to show what he can do, and they were absolutely right. On Sunday he claimed his first career Formula 1 podium finish.

He was narrowly beaten to second place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by Valtteri Bottas. But that didn't take the shine off the day for Stroll. Unfortunately there was a downside for the 18-year-old Canadian when he was faced with drinking champagne from Daniel Ricciardo's racing boot.

"Well it’s Stroll’s first podium, so he certainly deserves one," said Ricciardo. "Is he old enough to drink?"

Stroll didn't look thrilled by the idea, but gritted his teeth and took a swig anyway.

"You realise this is going to scar me for life!" he said. "Oh, my God, I’m too young for this. It’s like there’s some dirt in there as well!"

The tradition of the 'shoey' was introduced to Formula 1 by Ricciardo after he finished on the podium in the 2016. In the previous race in Montreal, his challenge to Sir Patrick Stewart to drink from the show was eagerly accepted by the Hollywood A-lister and long time F1 fan.

Stroll will be hungry for another podium appearance as fast as he can get one, but we're not sure he'll want any more 'shoey' opportunities any time soon.

"Today to come away with a podium is absolutely amazing. And the shooey at the end, that killed it. Still sitting in my gums!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.