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- McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix to end a three-year gap between race victories.
- The Australian last won at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018 when he was racing for Red Bull.
- Ricciardo celebrated with his trademark celebration of drinking champagne out of his sweaty shoe.
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One of the most popular figures in Formula One won his first race in more than three years before celebrating by chugging champagne from his shoe.
Daniel Ricciardo, who races for McLaren, crossed the line first at Monza to win the Italian Grand Prix and end a 1,204-day winless drought, which stretched back to the Monaco Grand Prix in May 2018.
Elated, he celebrated on the podium by removing the shoe he had spent the previous two hours sweating into before pouring champagne into it and taking a big, gross sip.
-Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
The celebration, which Ricciardo has become synonymous with, is called a "shoey."
He shared the sweaty concoction with his teammate Lando Norris as well as McLaren CEO Zac Brown.
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Having qualified in second following the sport's second ever sprint qualifying, Ricciardo tore off the line to overtake his former teammate Max Verstappen going into the first corner.
Now in the lead, Ricciardo would have been happy to see Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battling for track position behind him, allowing the Australian to build a lead.
He was also aided by his teammate Norris, who later defended well to keep third place from Hamilton.
Despite having the slower car, Ricciardo was able to keep Verstappen at arm's length and his job was made easier when Red Bull, known for its quick pits stops, took more than five times longer to change the Dutchman's tires than normal.
The likelihood of Ricciardo winning then got another serious boost when Verstappen and Hamilton collided, forcing both out of the race.
With the championship leaders back in the garages, Ricciardo was free to use all the experience his 202-race career has given him and he rebuilt his lead meaning that soon only his teammate Norris was within a second.
As he crossed the finishing line, Ricciardo screamed with joy and said: "I never left. Just moved aside for a while."
-Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
-Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
The Honey Badger strikes back
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Ricciardo, now 32, has been a popular member of the grid ever since his arrival to the sport in 2011.
Nicknamed the Honey Badger, Ricciardo has been described as the smiling assassin due to his always positive attitude off the track and his late-breaking attacking style on it.
His popularity increased even more when he played a starring role in Netflix's docuseries Drive to Survive.
His last race victory came when he was a member of Red Bull, but he left the team in 2019 for new ventures at Renault, now racing as Alpine.
At the start of this season, Ricciardo swapped teams again, this time replacing the yellow of Renault for the orange of McLaren.
He had endured a difficult start to the season having only previously finished within the top five on two occasions.
The win at Monza will have provided a much needed confidence boost, as well as the 25 points he gets, which take him to eighth in the driver standings.