Lewis Hamilton is hoping his decision to play the "long game" will yield the ultimate prize of this year's Formula One world title.
Hamilton heads into the final third of the championship fully fit after a neck spasm and 'flu came close to wrecking his weekend in Valencia just over a week ago.
The 23-year-old eventually managed to finish as runner-up in his McLaren behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa, extending his lead in the fight for the title by a point.
Hamilton now has a six-point cushion over Massa going into this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, and a 13-point advantage to reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who has won the last three races at Spa.
For a wiser, more experienced, more composed Hamilton, it is all about points this season, compared to last year's rookie campaign when the exuberance of youth occasionally took hold.
"Clearly, I want to win all the time, but I've learned sometimes it's more advantageous to score as many points as possible and live to fight another day," assessed Hamilton.
"My aim is still to win the world championship, and you don't do that by ending up in the barriers after making an opportunistic move.
"In Valencia, we scored a very useful haul of points, and I came away from the weekend having extended my lead in the championship despite losing two points to Felipe.
"I'm mentally strong enough to be able to deal with that, and I'm more relaxed about it too. I'm playing a long game."
The 4.35-mile circuit at Spa represents the most daunting challenge on the Formula One calendar as it winds its way through the Ardennes forest.
It also possesses one of the most frightening corners in the uphill Eau Rouge where Hamilton almost came to grief last year in a bitter battle with then team-mate Fernando Alonso.
After being forced off the track by Alonso coming out of La Source hairpin following the start, common sense told an angry Hamilton to stand down as they began to climb through Eau Rouge wheel to wheel.
"I backed off because I had a world championship to win," remarked Hamilton.
"It was more important I picked up points rather than being put into a wall.
"When you go through there, there is a point where you heart is telling you to keep pushing, but you have to think with your head.
"It may be more sensible or wiser to lift and back out, but then the best thing is to not be in that position so you don't have to make the choice."
Yet like every other driver, Hamilton is enamoured with a circuit rightly regarded as a classic, compared to many of today's modern, soulless venues.
"It's one of my all-time favourites," insisted Hamilton.
"Even before I first raced there, back in 2002 in Formula Renault, I played it on my computer and it was always one of the best tracks.
"It's one of the few circuits where you really feel like you're actually going somewhere.
"You blast off into the forest, get to the top of the hill and you can feel the whole circuit beneath you.
"It's one of the best challenges in Formula One."
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