Mark Webber says he plans to race aggressively for podiums and wins rather than 'cruise and collect' in a bid to protect his points lead.
The Red Bull driver edged back ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at Monza, but with an advantage of just five points he reckons it would be "suicidal" to start driving conservatively in Singapore this weekend.
"I'm not treating this like a normal race, but I'm not far off it," Webber told reporters on Thursday.
"It's similar to what it was at the start of the year - we have to try and get the best out of the car, do our best for the race, and usually you get what you deserve in this game.
"Non-finishes are not part of the menu, so we need to make sure we don't do that. I need to keep scoring, getting as many points as I can.
"Winning makes a difference - that's what our goal is to try and do here.
"It's completely suicidal to sit back and collect fifths and sixths, it's not good enough.
"We're looking for podiums in the future and that's what we need to do to keep right in the hunt."
The title chase remains exceptionally wide-open, with 24 points (less than the reward for a single race win) covering the top five - but Webber says the number of contenders does not affect his approach.
"It's certainly a nice position to be in, to have a few more points - certainly I'd rather have them than not have them," he said.
"But it doesn't matter if it's two guys, five guys, eight guys... It doesn't really change how you go about your job.
"I'm coming here to try and win the race, and that's what we've got to try to do.
"Will five of us go to Abu Dhabi? We might, but the chances are it's unlikely. There might be four, might be three, might be one, who knows?
"What I do know is that we have to finish races and stay in there. We have to be in the hunt in Abu Dhabi.
"Leading the world championship in Singapore is not the important thing, leading it at the end is."
And while three of his four rivals have won the drivers' championship before, and McLaren and Ferrari have 24 constructors' crowns between them, Webber feels Red Bull's determination to join that exclusive club might just prove an advantage.
"In any case when you have uncharted waters, it comes with a degree of inexperience," he said.
"But there's also the great thing that you are incredibly hungry for it.
"Not that McLaren and Ferrari aren't, but obviously we as a team at Red Bull totally understand how unique this opportunity is, and we're incredibly excited about having a crack at winning some championships this year."
Webber is confident that the sinuous, maximum downforce Marina Bay street circuit will suit Red Bull much better than the past two venues, where it was outpaced by McLaren and Ferrari.
"Yeah, I'd say so, without doubt," he said.
"We knew Spa and Monza were going to be a little bit more challenging for us.
"We have a fantastic car wherever we go in the world, but probably we wouldn't go to Spa and Monza every day of the week to try to take our opposition on.
"We expect to be a bit more competitive here.
"It should be okay for our car; it is bumpy which has been good for us in the past."
Mercedes chief Norbert Haug says Formula 1 must ensure that it devises a new engine formula for 2013 that is affordable for the whole sport - something he believes would be made easier if more engine manufacturers were on the grid.
F1's various think-tanks have been working during the course of the season to frame the regulations for the championship's move to a new engine era, with the aim to introduce more sustainable, environmentally-friendly technologies.
Those discussions appear to be edging towards resulting in the introduction of 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo engines and a package of energy regeneration systems, although Haug says it is still a "little bit too early" to say for definite what the 2013 regulations will be.
Indeed the Mercedes motorsport boss - whose company currently supplies its V8 power units to three teams including its own works squad - reckons the biggest conundrum the sport continues to face is how the new engine formula can be rolled out affordably throughout the grid.
"There are discussions in place [over 2013] - I would say very good constructive discussions between the manufacturers and teams - but of course you need to make sure that you can supply the whole field," Haug said.
"So if you have a new engine generation and you have to supply up to 24 cars, you need to have the commitment that this can be done from scratch.
"What we [Mercedes] did in the past in the eight-cylinder generation, we needed to build it up first, run the engine in our own car and only as soon as last year we were in a position to supply customer teams because otherwise we just couldn't have made it.
"I think that is the big challenge for the new engine generation."
While Haug acknowledges the development of completely new engines and associated systems will always mean teams and manufacturers incur additional costs, he says F1 must do its best to keep the required outlay under control.
And with the current 12-team field currently supplied by just four engine makers, Haug believes it is imperative that independent manufacturer Cosworth isn't priced out of the sport by the changes - while ideally additional suppliers are also found.
"The ideas that are discussed are very positive ones. I think we all have to be committed to doing it for reasonable costs," he said.
"Having said that, it's always will cost money to develop a new engine from scratch again.
"But it needs the commitment that you can supply the field and that's of course easier if you have five or six [engine] manufacturers rather than three or four like it is right now.
"I think it's very important to find a solution for Cosworth, for the independent engine manufacturers.
"I think as they show currently they do a good job in this formula, for me that looks very good.
"And we need to try and find ways how to keep Cosworth in Formula 1, [and] probably find another manufacturer, probably find another independent manufacturer.
"That has to be the target."
McLaren team principal and FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh agrees that the sport can't afford to be overly gung-ho in the regulations it introduces, but at the same time must ensure it still achieves the aims it has set out to.
"What we mustn't do in stepping from this set of rules to a new set is lose people along the way," Whitmarsh
"We [Formula 1] will emerge I'm sure from this economic squeeze stronger, but we shouldn't be cavalier and believe all these teams are going to be here if we get it wrong.
"So we've got to be careful - but that's a challenge. All things have got to change; whatever we do they'll be someone who says 'I like V12s, it was terrible the day we stopped having V12s', or V10s or whatever.
"They've got to sound great, they've got to be exciting to drive for these guys [drivers], they've got to be perceived to be the most advanced, but they've got to be relevant to society and the technologies we develop."
Source: ITV Sport.
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