Valtteri Bottas is fully focused on the current season in Formula One rather than the speculation regarding his seat at Mercedes in 2019.
Ricciardo, whose contract at Red Bull runs out at the end of the year, will be throwing his hat in the ring along with other drivers.
Bottas said: “The best thing for me is to win many races, as many as I can, and that’s going to be the target.
“I’m going to go into every weekend trying to be at my best, trying to use everything that I have learned, trying to perform at a good level and that means trying to battle with Hamilton, trying to beat him - that’s my job. That’s it, it’s very straightforward.
“Of course, there are multiple things I can do, there are still areas where I can improve and I need to work on those.
“I need to trust myself, go flat out and that’s all I can do and not think about too much.”