Hamilton not changing approach

The McLaren driver has a golden opportunity to extend his world championship lead at Fuji with title rival Felipe Massa only managing fifth on the grid - but he has vowed not to get too carried away in his quest for success.

"Of course - I don't want to crash," said Hamilton about his race tactics. "We all want to get around the first corner. I've just got to approach it the same as I always do. I will just try and get a good start and get into Turn One first.

"I'll just be sensible. I won't be closing the door on anyone and taking silly risks. But I'm racing to win."

Hamilton has reiterated that his only thought is about winning the championship - a different attitude to 12 months ago when his sole target of race wins saw the title slip through his grasp.

And he believes the experience of that, plus his hard-fought GP2 crown, have made him well prepared for the challenges that lay ahead in the next few weeks.

"With GP2, that was pretty tight towards the end and it was a great experience to come out ahead," he explained. "Last year, I think a couple of problems we had in the last two races obviously ended up with the result we didn't really want.

"But the most important thing is how we came out of that and how we went through and moved forward. As a person I got a lot stronger. I came into this year having experienced one year in Formula One in a much stronger position mentally and physically.

"We prepared ourselves better. Myself and my team, my trainer, we've prepared a lot better and I think mentally as well. We're in a slightly better position in that sense, but it's the last three races and the most intense part of the season. You've got to try and keep it together and score points."

Despite taking pole position, Hamilton believes that Ferrari have edged closer to McLaren in terms of ultimate pace.

"I do feel that they've closed the gap - they are a lot more competitive here this year than they were last year," he said. "I think they have been potentially there with us, if not a little faster than us, but again when you come to qualifying it's about doing the job and I think we were perhaps able to get more out of our car.

"It's difficult to say who is faster, but at the end of the day we are on pole and that's most important."