Lewis Hamilton believes consistency will still be the key to him winning a second world title this year given the tight nature of the drivers' championship.
Lewis expects title chase to come down to fine margins
Lewis Hamilton says he intends to stick with the approach to racing he has used so far this season as it is consistency that will make the difference in the title fight.
The McLaren driver assumed the lead of the Drivers' Championship for the second time this season after brilliantly winning in Canada on Sunday, moving him up three places in the standings from fourth.
Although it marked an overdue first victory of the campaign for Hamilton, it was his seventh successive points finish - a run only Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso can match - and the Briton, who had vowed to take a more measured approach to racing his year, admits he has no need to change anything now, particularly as his points advantage is so small.
"I'm definitely not going to change my approach, but I think it's working reasonably well so far," he said.
"I probably definitely had to be more on the limit today to catch the two guys ahead, perhaps a little bit more risky than in the past but it is about consistency this year. I think it will be about consistency.
"It's unbelievable to see just how close it is. We got a win and 25 points and I only have a two point lead, so it's incredible how close it is and I think it will stay that close throughout the year. Again, it just highlights how important consistency is."
Hamilton also believes the team need to improve the MP4-27's tyre degradation levels after rivals Ferrari and Red Bull's attempted to beat him on a one-stop strategy - something he admits McLaren could never have managed.
While both teams ultimately fell short in this aim, and Red Bull belatedly pitted Sebastian Vettel for a second time, cars behind did make a one-stop work.
"Obviously they were able to do a one-stop. I would have fallen even further behind maybe if I had done a one stop, so that's just an area I know that we need to get stronger and we need to improve on as the season is probably going to be a lot like this, where you are having one or two stops throughout the season," said Hamilton.
"If we can improve on that, then I think we are in a really good strong position."