Daniel Ricciardo insists he is not bothered about the impact he could have on the championship fight between Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the final three races.
Red Bull has been a legitimate challenger to Mercedes in recent races, having split the Silver Arrows cars for podium finishes in Belgium, Singapore and Japan, while also claiming a one-two in Malaysia after Hamilton's engine failure. Hamilton arrives in Mexico for this weekend's grand prix 26 points down on Rosberg and needs the German to finish off the podium at one race to have a chance at retaining his title.
That means Ricciardo and teammate Max Verstappen could help Hamilton by finishing between him and Rosberg in the remaining three races.
When asked if that fact will be in his mind when he is racing, or whether he will just "get on with it" as normal, Ricciardo laughed and said: "Just get on with it! I'm aware of it now sitting here, but come Sunday it's completely not in my mind.
"Just go out there and hopefully... Whether me getting a good result changes the balance of the championship at the end of the day, it's still not my business or not my doing, it's just me trying to do what I can do in the car. I'll try and get as many points as I can."
The Mexico race is run at 2,250 metres above sea level, meaning the thinner air creating a number of potential reliability and set-up issues. With Mercedes under pressure to ensure reliability for both drivers, Ricciardo thinks Red Bull could capitalise.
Responding to a question about how Red Bull would fare at high altitudes against Mercedes and Ferrari, he replied: "I know we're better off this year than we were last year, but no idea [about the other two]. I don't know if [higher altitude] is going to mean a couple of concerns for Mercedes, I know the last few races they've been running a bit conservative -- I don't know if that plays a role. If they play conservative again is it good news for us, I'm not sure...."
Grip was an issue at the Mexican Grand Prix last year, as the circuit returned to the F1 calendar. Ricciardo thinks it should have improved this season, to the benefit of Red Bull.
"I think we'll be alright. Last year I don't think we had a competitive car at this point of the season and we still managed to get a fourth and fifth, so it was a pretty good race for us as a team. Looking at it like that, we should do quite well.
"I'm curious to know what the grip's like - last year it was a bit frustrating, the level of grip, it was really hard to find a balance. You just had to make do with a pretty balanced car. But this year we should be able to get more out of it and if there is more grip it should allow us to run the downforce we want to use the Red Bull strengths."