Formula One championship leader Mark Webber says it would be ''suicidal'' to conservatively target points finishes rather than race for wins as he attempts to hold onto his lead over the final five races.
Webber enters this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix with a five-point lead in the championship in what is a five-way fight for the title with Red Bull teammate Sebastien Vettel, McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
''I'm not treating this like a normal race but not far off it,'' Webber said on Thursday. ''I need to keep scoring as many points as I can, keep chipping away.
''It would be suicidal to say I can sit back and finish fifth or sixth. We are looking forward to podiums, and that is what we need to do to keep massively in the hunt.''
The looming wild card this weekend is Singapore's tropical weather. While the first two editions of the race avoided rain, there were several showers on Thursday, with more forecast for the following three days.
None of the drivers has experienced driving an F1 car on a wet track under lights, and enter the weekend wary of how they will handle light reflecting off the road.
''One of the biggest things is the spray off the cars, we don't know how that will be,'' Webber said.
''My money is (on) everything will be fine. I don't think there will be any huge problems.''
Ferrari's Felipe Massa, still chasing his first win of the season, was also concerned by the risk of rain, but drew confidence from his impressive pole position qualifying performance at Marina Bay in 2008 before a pitstop mishap in the race. He missed 2009's event because of an injury.
''Rain at a track like this is always difficult. Its like Monaco, and Monaco with rain is very tricky, very slippery,'' Massa said.
''Its very clear that the championship is not easy to get, but I am thinking about racing for victory. I like the circuit. Its a track where I did a great qualifying, I was nearly six-tenths quicker than second.''
Webber was the championship leader but there were many expressing doubt over whether the Australian or his team can take the title, given neither has a world championship to their name, unlike Hamilton, Button and Alonso.
Webber dismissed the skeptics.
''When you have slightly uncharted waters it comes with a degree of inexperience, but there is also an incredible hunger for it,'' he said. ''We at Red Bull know what a unique opportunity this is.''
''Leading the championship at Singapore is not the important thing; its important to lead at the end.''
