Nadal moved to within two Major titles of Federer in June when he won his 12th French Open title.
It means the Spaniard is now on 18 and with his dominance on clay showing little sign of diminishing, few would bet against him moving to 19 in 2020.
At Wimbledon last month, Federer had a golden opportunity to win a 21st Grand Slam title when he had two championship points against Novak Djokovic in the final.
But the Swiss star failed to take them as Djokovic fought back to win his 16th Grand Slam.
Federer’s last title win at a Major came in January 2018 at the Australian Open and as he turns 38 later this week, his chances of extended his lead are receding.
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Speaking ahead of his Rogers Cup opener on Wednesday, Nadal was asked whether overtaking Federer’s record was important and something he thinks about.
And though the 33-year-old admitted he’d love to be the all-time leader, he made clear it was not his main focus.
“For everybody, it is important,” he told the ATP.
“But it is something I am not obsessed about. I’m just happy about the way I did.
“Of course I would love to have more than him but honestly it is not my approach with this stuff.
“If it happens, fantastic. But my point of view is to keep producing chances to be competitive in the most important events and maybe I am able to win a couple more.”
In an interview with Spanish publication El Confidential, Roberto Bautista Agut was asked who he thought would end up with the most Grand Slam titles.
And he felt Nadal was best placed to eventually beat Federer.
“For now, Federer is the one who is leading,” Bautista Agut said.
“Although because of his age, he has the least options left to continue extending his record.
“In my opinion, it will depend a little on Rafa, who by age is closer to Djokovic and has also managed to adapt to all types of surfaces.
“What I do know is that, whatever happens, the three of them will be remembered for everything they have achieved.”