Daniel Ricciardo was happy to end the first half of the 2016 Formula 1 season with another podium. The Red Bull Racing driver finished the German Grand Prix in second place, ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo started the Grand Prix in third and made a good getaway to stay in the top three. Ricciardo took a different pit strategy to Verstappen using the Supersoft compound on his second pit stop.
At times, Ricciardo was the fastest driver on track, pushing leader Lewis Hamilton to set fast times in order to maintain the gap. Ricciardo believes their performance at the Hockenheimring was the best the Milton Keynes outfit could achieve.
“I’m very pleased with today obviously,” said Ricciardo. “To beat one Mercedes is nice but for both cars to beat one Mercedes and the pole-sitter was really good.
“It was the best we could do today and I’m now happy to go into the summer break with another podium in the bag. For me the strategy worked very well, I was comfortable on the supersofts and it worked out my pace was better in the end with that tyre.”
The end of the German Grand Prix marks the start of the three-week Summer Break, the Australian is currently third in the Driver Standings with a total of 133 points. Ricciardo believes it’s nice to get a bit of momentum now before the break.
“Drinking out of the shoe on the podium is an Australian thing,” added Ricciardo. “It’s called a “shoey”. I said if I win a race this year I’ll do it, but just in case, I thought I’ll do it next time I’m on the podium.
“The last few races I got a bit more out of the race weekends and it’s nice to get a bit of momentum now before the summer break. Just to stand up there on the podium is the best feeling in the world.”
