Team orders have long divided opinions among the Formula One fraternity and this season is no exception, but while both Red Bull drivers remain mathematically capable of winning the championship, there will be no such instructions, according to Daniel Ricciardo.

The Australian’s fifth place finish in Monza last weekend left him third in the overall standings, 72 points adrift of leader Nico Rosberg and 50 behind Lewis Hamilton.

There’s going to be no orders while we are both still mathematically in the title chase.

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel meanwhile is a further 60 points and three places behind him, and while his chances at a fifth consecutive world title would appear almost non-existent, Red Bull will continue to follow their mandate of allowing their drivers to race.

“Team orders was brought up in the media at Monza and we have discussed it briefly, “ Ricciardo told the Daily Telegraph.

“Seb and I are free to race each other.

“That’s still going to take place and there’s going to be no orders while we are both still mathematically in the title chase.

media_camera Daniel Ricciardo is currently third in the driver’s championship

“Obviously we both consider ourselves long shots – Seb even longer – but we’re still in with a chance.

“Beyond that we’ll see, if it gets to a point that one of us is out of contention and one is still in then perhaps the discussion will be revisited.

“It’s refreshing to be able to race your team-mate, we’ve had some great battles so if it continues like this for the next few races then that’s fine and that’s fair.”

The confidence I have with the car has allowed me to have some great fights with rival drivers this year.

Daniel Ricciardo

Including the double spoils on offer at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, 175 points are up for grabs in the six remaining races.

And while Ricciardo is under no illusions about how great the gap between him and the Mercedes duo is, he remains upbeat about his chances of finishing ahead of them again this season.

media_camera Vettel and Ricciardo racing side by side in Monza

Heping praise on his engineering team and the work they have done in delivering a car he “has full confidence in”, Ricciardo insists he will be fighting it out at the front all the way from Singapore next weekend to Abu Dhabi in November.

“The confidence I have with the car has allowed me to have some great fights with rival drivers this year,” he said.

“I spend a lot of time with the engineers working to make the car quicker and they’ve done a great job in giving me a car that I’m so comfortable in I don’t have to second guess what I’m doing.”

Next weekend’s race at Marina Bay has been earmarked by Red Bull as one of their best opportunities to close the gap on Mercedes.

media_camera Ricciardo and Vettel celebrate in Canada

Vettel has won every race in Singapore since 2011 and the track, which boasts more corners and fewer straights than Monza, will favour their car and should allow them to pull away from the likes of Williams, Ferrari and McLaren to focus solely on Hamilton and Rosberg.

“We’re looking forward to going back there,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “It’s a track that we’ve always gone well at over the last few years, but there are no guarantees in this business. But hopefully we should be a lot closer to ultimate pace than we were in Monza.”

**Read Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusive column in tomorrow’s Sunday Telegraph**