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Daniel Ricciardo reckons he will have a "good chance" of battling Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the German Grand Prix after qualifying in third place.
Red Bull entered qualifying anticipating a battle with Ferrari for the 'best of the rest' positions, though Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were able to take third and fourth, with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel fifth and sixth.
Ricciardo is optimistic that Red Bull can take the fight to Mercedes in race trim.
"In Q3 I knew I had to find some more time and I put a really good lap together in the first run," he said.
"Then I knew there wasn’t much more for the second run so I probably tried a little bit too hard and made a few mistakes, but in the end it was a nice qualifying.
"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. In the last three races now both Red Bulls have been in front of Ferrari and it seems like we’re getting a little bit closer to Mercedes.
"Everyone in the team is happy and it’s nice standing here knowing that I’m in the top three. Tomorrow I think we’ll have a good chance."
