Lewis Hamilton has vowed to remain hard on himself if it continues to yield performances such as his power-packed drive in Istanbul.
Hamilton was back to his brilliant best in the Turkish Grand Prix, capturing a superb second place following an enthralling see-saw battle with Felipe Massa.
The 23-year-old's dazzling display was all the more remarkable as McLaren were forced to execute a three-stop strategy due to fears relating to the Bridgestone tyres.
Hamilton drove for 58 laps with the nagging thought he could fly off the Istanbul Park circuit at 200mph at any moment due to an exploding tyre, as happened in last year's race.
But the young Briton held his nerve to finish within four seconds of Massa and move within seven points of championship leader and reigning world title-holder Kimi Raikkonen, who was third.
A smiling Hamilton later hailed his performance as the best of his career, in contrast to his sombre mood 24 hours earlier following a disappointing qualifying as he felt he had failed to give 100 per cent.
Hamilton was annoyed, and not for the first time this season as he was bitterly angry with himself following a poor race in Bahrain where he made mistakes.
When Hamilton 'beats himself up' it appears to bring the best out in him, as was the case on Sunday.
"I'm always hard on myself," insisted Hamilton.
"I sat down after qualifying and I was very ticked off with myself because I was unhappy with the job I did.
"At the end of the day the team give me a car and I have to go out and drive 100 per cent, and I didn't extract 100 per cent from the car.
"That's why I'm always hard on myself because we're top drivers and we should be able to do that.
"However, if I am given a problem, I deal with it and so do the team, and that's why I still believe that we are the best."
Team boss Ron Dennis knows there will be no let-up from Hamilton, on and off track, as he seeks perfection.
"Lewis is always hard on himself, always honest, and what he says is what he believes," remarked Dennis.
McLaren F1 chief executive Martin Whitmarsh feels Hamilton could possibly have won the race if he had done a better job in qualifying and been on pole.
Asked whether he shared Hamilton's view that it was the drive of his career, Whitmarsh replied: "My memory is so short that I don't want to draw comparisons.
"It was certainly his finest race this year, and with the odds against him he was just flat out.
"His in and out laps were great and the team did a superb job in the pitstops. He took the race to Ferrari throughout.
"It would have been difficult to have won from pole, but given his performance in the race he possibly could have done."
Splitting the Ferraris was good enough for Hamilton, especially with Raikkonen behind him and so closing the gap to the current leader.
"I knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris, and to be honest we were just hoping to get some points," added Hamilton.
"To finish in the top five would have been good, but the balance of the car was great, and on the hard tyres I was able to keep up with Felipe and even overtake him.
"It was a great result, and I am thrilled to have come second from third."
Hamilton now heads to two of his favourite circuits in Monte Carlo and Montreal hoping to gain further ground.
However, one possible concern is the car has struggled on twisty sections of tracks, as was the case in Istanbul, and prior to that in Barcelona.
But a dismissive Hamilton said: "I don't see it as a worry.
"In Barcelona the last sector, which was all tight corners, they (Ferrari) were a little bit quicker than us.
"It was the same in Istanbul with the last three corners where they seemed to take quite a lot out of us.
"We will now try to understand exactly why and keep pushing to improve. I have no doubts we can do that."
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