Hamilton ready to go for 'useful' points

The Briton finished in second place at the European Grand Prix at Valencia, where the McLaren driver was unable to beat Ferrari rival Felipe Massa.

Hamilton had a quiet race and seemed to settle for second, an attitude that earned him the praise from his team bosses.

And although he admits he is aiming for victory in all races, Hamilton says he has learned that sometimes it is vital to just score points.

"Clearly, I want to win all the time, but I've learned that sometimes it's more advantageous to score as many points as possible and live to fight another day," Hamilton said on his website.

"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've actually come 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."

Hamilton lost last year's title by one single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.