Daniel Ricciardo insists he "will go for it" if racing Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton for victory in Brazil, though he will not attempt anything "kamikaze" that could swing the title battle.
The affect other teams could have on the title fight has been brought into sharp focus ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix following the revelation Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called Jos Verstappen to warn his son, Max, not to do anything reckless in the last two races. Rosberg leads the championship by 19 points and would take the title with a maiden win this Sunday.
Ricciardo starts from sixth on the grid but will not hold back if he finds himself in a position to win and has to pass either Mercedes driver to do so.
When asked if his mindset would change in that instance, Ricciardo replied: "I haven't really come into that, like I haven't been approached with that scenario yet, but up until now it has not crossed my mind. If we are talking about a race win, I am going for it. Again, I am not going to do a kamikaze and take us both out, but if I feel that it is a move that I can make stick sure I will go for it.
"It is not fair of anyone, particularly [Red Bull]. The team wouldn't be happy. It is the last thing I personally want to do is hang back and watch it all unfold. If we are in a position in the race to fight, it is going to be a very nice position. If we are with Mercedes it probably means that there is some rain on the track. But sure if there is a move which is there, and I don't feel that it is going to take any of us out, I will definitely go for it."
Asked if he felt it was unfair to ask his teammate Verstappen, or any other F1 driver, to compete at anything less than 100 percent because of someone else's title fight, he replied: "Yes, exactly we are there to race, and for us to all cruise around and just let the Mercedes drivers fight it out doesn't make sense.
"If we can be in that fight with them then that is part of the championship, that is the way it is supposed to go. We will have it in the back of our mind but I don't think that will change too much.
"As a concept I don't think that is right. I understand it from a respect point of view, but you have to race because what is different now than in Melbourne? At the start of the year we are all racing and trying to maximize our position. In a way if it is like we don't attack them or we don't go for an opportunity, in a way we are fixing the championship by not doing that.
"So the championship should be an accumulation of all those races, and whatever happens, happens. I completely see the respect side of it, but it doesn't mean that we should not try to do something if we can."