Ricciardo wants to mix it with the Mercedes in Germany

Daniel Ricciardo believes his Red Bull car has good long run pace and could mix it with the Mercedes cars in the German Grand Prix.
Daniel RicciardoDaniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo

The Australian will start Sunday’s race - his 100th start in F1 - from third on the grid behind Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, with team-mate Max Verstappen alongside him in fourth.

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Ton up for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo

“I think we’ll have a good chance,” he said. “Third is a good place to start. Hopefully we can look at Mercedes tomorrow and have a good battle with them and not focus on what’s happening behind us. The feeling in the team is very good at the moment.

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“The long runs yesterday looked a bit better than they did in Budapest so let’s see. I’ll go hard and hopefully get in front and at least lead some of the race. If I can’t lead the last lap then I’ll try and lead some and be on TV!”

Verstappen, who starts fourth, said while the gap to the Mercedes cars is getting closer, Red Bull’s priorities must remain on Ferrari, with a win unlikely for the cars from Tilbrook.

He said: “The main target is to be in front of the Ferraris and that is what we have done. That said, we know they will be quick in the race as we saw last week.

“Mercedes look pretty strong but we are not that far away so I think we can be very happy with that.

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“We can both be satisfied to be on the second row as this track wasn’t expected to be the best for us. Race pace is looking very good for the moment.

“We definitely want to be challenging for a podium tomorrow, I think a win mi//ght be difficult though.”