Germany podium '˜best feeling in the world' for Ricciardo

The Australian returned to the top three after six races away, finishing behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

“I’m very pleased with today obviously,” said Ricciardo afterwards. “To beat one Mercedes is nice but for both cars to beat one Mercedes and the pole-sitter was really good.

“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.

“In the first part of the race I was sitting in third and the pace was okay but I think I really came to life in the second half of the race and that’s when I was able to show a bit more speed and capture second place.

“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.”

While his performance on the track won him many plaudits, Ricciardo’s podium celebration - drinking out of his shoe - got him the most attention.

“Drinking out of the shoe on the podium is an Australian thing!” he admitted. “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.”