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Sebastian Vettel says he is expecting a strong challenge from his former Formula 1 team Red Bull in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after pipping Daniel Ricciardo to third on the grid.

The Ferrari driver finished just 0.035s ahead of Ricciardo in qualifying as Red Bull continued the good form it demonstrated in the last race at Silverstone.

"Red Bull have made a step closer to ultimately Mercedes," said Vettel.

"If you look at the gap they had and the gap they have now, they are closer.

"It was evident in Silverstone so we expected they would have strong weekend and we expect them to be strong tomorrow.

"But we managed to out-qualify them which means we are quicker.

"We knew it would be tight, especially with Red Bull but we managed to stay ahead.

"It was good for today but for tomorrow, there is a lot of work to be done trying to defend that third place."

Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was consistent in qualifying, securing fifth on the grid having also achieved the position in the first two segments of the session.

The Finn, who lost time with a technical problem in final practice and was unable to do a qualifying simulation, felt he should have been higher up the grid but remained positive for Sunday.

"We are third and fifth so I don't think it was a disaster," said Raikkonen.

"We missed time in the morning because of an issue so it was a bit unknown for qualifying.

"It wasn't too bad but I should have been higher up.

"Mercedes will be strong, but we will try to be second best if we can.

"At least we are not on the inside [of the grid], I can try and get a good start and see what happens from there."