Daniel Ricciardo applauded Red Bull's recent turnaround after recording an "awesome" podium alongside teammate Max Verstappen at the German Grand Prix.

Ricciardo and Verstappen jumped polesitter Nico Rosberg off the line, and the trio battled for the final two spots on the podium behind Lewis Hamilton for the rest of the race. Ricciardo was beaten by Verstappen into Turn 1 but managed to jump ahead of his teammate at his third pit stop, with the Australian consolidating second position with strong pace in the closing stint.

Speaking on the podium after the win, Ricciardo said: "Thanks to Red Bull Racing, I think it's the first double podium for us in over a year, so it's awesome to close out the first part of the season.

Ricciardo and Verstappen were on split strategies through the race, with the Dutch teenager letting his teammate by at a crucial part of the race when both men were trying to keep Rosberg in range. Ricciardo says Red Bull's pace on the super-soft at the end was on par with Mercedes.

"We wanted to finish the first part of the season on a high, after Friday's performance we thought we would probably be more competitive in the race than we were in Budapest. We obviously had a little sniff at the start of the race. We knew we had something on so it was about making the most of it, as always, but it was obviously nice motivation to make the most of it.

"The start initially felt quite good. Nico's was obviously quite poor so we got past him and then I covered the inside in Turn 1 but then I didn't realise on the outside, it was very close but we kept it on track. To my disappointed he pulled off the move at Turn 1. Keeping Nico back there on the first lap, it was a good little battle there for a few corners and that was quite important for my race to keep him behind and focus on what I needed to do.

"I would say the first two stints, super-soft, soft, we were in the race, but not really enough to make a massive jump or the top two. But once we put the super-softs on for the final two stints the car came alive, that's where in the end we got the second place."