Lewis Hamilton has recalled the ‘gross’ shoey he did with Daniel Ricciardo as he left a heartfelt goodbye to the departing Australian.

Daniel Ricciardo is widely believed to have raced for the final time in F1 having been dropped by VCARB and Hamilton took the time to send a message to a driver he has shared the grid with for 13 years.

Lewis Hamilton sends goodbye message to Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo, along with Hamilton, is one of the longest-serving drivers on the grid but while Hamilton is off to a new team in Ferrari next season, Ricciardo’s own future is less certain.

The 35-year-old was dropped on Thursday, replaced by Liam Lawson, and has yet to comment on what may come next for him.

But despite that, Hamilton said there was “so much more for you up ahead” in a message shared on his Instagram.

“Daniel Ricciardo it’s been an honour to compete with you over the years. I’ll never forget the battles, the laughs, and drinking out of your shoe. It was gross, but glad I got to do it with you bud,” Hamilton, who did the shoey at Imola in 2020, said.

“You leave a legacy of always being yourself, which in this sport is never easy. You’ve taken it all with the biggest smile and I salute you for it. There is so much more for you up ahead and can’t wait to see what you do next. Always here for you, man.”

Ricciardo’s departure means there are now just three drivers on the grid who have appeared in over 250 races with Hamilton joined in that club by Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.

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Hamilton racked up his 350th start on Sunday and said earlier in the year he had a timescale in mind for when he also might depart.

“I definitely do,” he told Esquire.

“There are days I’m like, ‘shoot, I don’t know how much longer I can go’. There are days I’m like, ‘shoot, I’d love a break, a proper break’. Because you don’t get a real big break in the season like other sports.

“You don’t finish until mid to late December, and then you’re back into training already in January, and that’s two times a day you’re training. There are another couple of hours of therapy that you’re doing during that time as well. So you’re not really getting a huge amount of downtime.

“And in February, you’re flat-out running until December.”

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