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Red Bull F1 team declares Daniel Ricciardo's confidence is back

Daniel Ricciardo's Hungarian Grand Prix podium was important in helping rebuild his confidence, according to Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner

The Australian held off a charge from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to secure only his second podium of the season with third.

It came after frustrations including the strategy error that cost him a shot at winning in Spain and the pitstop mix-up in Monaco.

Ricciardo was also facing a growing challenge from new team-mate Max Verstappen, who had finished ahead in four of their six races together.

"It was an important race for Daniel just to re-establish his confidence," said Horner of Hungary.

"He was on it all weekend and I'm very happy with the weekend that he's had.

"It was a great race for him - a confidence booster for the second half of the year.

"Daniel has had some bad luck in the early part of the year.

"It tends to level itself out over the course of a season."

Horner was pleased with the performance of both his drivers, with Verstappen holding off Kimi Raikkonen to finish fifth, and believes the rivalry between the pair is positive.

It helped Red Bull close the gap to Ferrari in second place in the constructors' championship to just one point.

"Both of them are pushing each other hard and that's what you want from your team-mates," said Horner.

"They're both pushing each other to other levels now and from a team perspective that's extremely healthy."

AUTOSPORT SAYS
Ben Anderson, Grand Prix Editor
@BenAndersonAuto

There's probably some truth to the notion that Daniel Ricciardo needed to get one over Max Verstappen in Hungary, after a recent run of defeats to his new Red Bull team-mate.

But the podium result in itself is insignificant. Ricciardo is already a multiple grand prix winner, so finishing a distant third to Mercedes is not going to change his world.

He is also incredibly tough mentally, so it will take a lot more than a few good races from Verstappen to unsettle him.

Remember this is a guy who beat a four-time world champion across a season in the same car.

That sort of achievement brings an inner confidence - to an already very confident guy - that is enormously difficult to shake.

He didn't beat Sebastian Vettel by worrying about Sebastian Vettel. He did it by recognising the bigger picture - the ebb and flow of form and results, and by focusing on taking care of his own business first and foremost.

What really gets under Ricciardo's skin is failure to take big opportunities when they arrive. Witness his fury earlier this year at being denied victory in Monaco to Red Bull's pit blunder.

This sort of underachievement narks him far more than whether his team-mate has strung together a few good races.

It was similar last year, when Daniil Kvyat put together a good run in the second half of the season.

Only one of them still races for Red Bull...

Like everyone else Ricciardo recognises Verstappen's precocious talent and rapid rate of improvement, but he's not frightened by it.

As he said before he got the better of Verstappen in Hungary, "the only things I'm scared of are sharks and snakes".

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