Hamilton admits maiden shoey 'didn’t taste great'

Lewis Hamilton unexpectedly indulged in a "shoey" on the Emilia Romagna GP podium, but the Mercedes driver said the bubbly "definitely didn't taste great".

At Imola, Daniel Ricciardo was about to mark his second podium of the season with his trademark sip of champagne from his racing boot during the post-race ceremonial.

But much to the Renault driver's surprise, race winner Hamilton asked to join in with the Aussie who was more than happy to take off his other boot and fill it with the celebratory wine.

However, Hamilton admitted having struggled with an unpleasant aftertaste!

"It definitely didn’t taste great," said the soon-to-be seven-time world champion. " mean I don’t really like champagne as it is, but it definitely tastes worse.

"But what’s positive is that Daniel’s mum thinks I was a good sport, so I’m grateful for that.

"I think Daniel had said that I’d once said never that I would never do it. So there’s a lesson – never say never. It was a good moment."

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Hamilton's bold turnaround impressed Ricciardo who called the jubilant moment of complicity "majestic".

"I took my right shoe off, poured it, and was about to salute the mechanics," he said. "And I heard Mr Hamilton asking me to take my left shoe off. He also drank out of my shoe today. So we shared one today, and it was majestic.

"And fun fact for everyone, I think it was three years ago on the podium he said he will never, ever drink out of my shoe, and in 2020 strange things are happening.

"I was very adamant that I would get him to do it one day, and here we go. So I didn't forget, and I’m very happy.

"Champagne is colder these days, I don't know if it's because we're approaching winter and it's cooler outside, but it does make the shoe experience slightly more tolerable."

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