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Daniel Ricciardo was surprised to qualify as high as sixth for the German Grand Prix

Red Bull hopeful admits decisions made elsewhere probably helped

Daniel Ricciardo on track
Image: Daniel Ricciardo: Lines up sixth for the German GP

Daniel Ricciardo said he was surprised to qualify as high as sixth for the German Grand Prix given the pace Toro Rosso have shown so far this weekend.

Whether Ricciardo can score points for the second successive race remains to be seen but he does, of course, have more motivation than most. So, is the hunger for Mark Webber's seat helping? "I put it at the back of my mind. Since the news I've had two good qualifyings; I'm not going to say that's the reason for it because I've been pushing all the time. "I've put it at the back of my mind but it's positive to know that there's talk and it's good news not bad news. "Silverstone was great - to prove it in practice but keep it in qualy. When we were expected to do it, we did it. "Today, we weren't expected to do it but we pulled a few things around and really dug deep. It's two different scenarios but it's nice to pull off both of them and prove we can do it - both when it's expected and when it's not." Instead, Ricciardo said the chance to step back after the Canadian GP allowed him to ponder how he might respond to the strong performances of team-mate - and rival to replace Webber - Jean-Eric Vergne in both Monaco and Montreal. "Before all the Red Bull talk, I'd come off two poor races. We had a break then - three weeks off after Montreal - and that was a good time to reassess a few things, try and bring the boys together and try and understand how we can move forward," he added. "That, and the fact that JEV had two really strong races, gave me a lot of fire. I like to think I always work hard away from the cockpit but let's say I worked even a little bit harder to understand. "That was the real motivation - to really try and make that step up. The Red Bull thing was just a bit of icing to that mix." Remember you can watch the German GP live from the Nurburgring with a Sky Sports Day Pass from NOW TV. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/19YBfbx

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