Hamilton stays cool despite reduced gap

With just a two point lead over Alonso, Hamilton is convinced that the momentum has not gone out of his championship campaign.

And, after facing a similar kind of scenario last year in GP2 when Nelson Piquet Jr. closed him down before a final push clinched him the title, Hamilton says he knows what he needs to do.

"It is a bit similar to last year so I have experienced it before," said Hamilton after finishing behind Alonso in the Belgian Grand Prix. "And as you saw last season, I was able to keep hold of it.

"I know it has come down a bit closer to two points but we have still got three races, and three tracks that are a bit new and fresh to everyone and at least me.

"Some tracks he will be faster than me, and some tracks I will be faster than him. So fingers crossed the last tracks are better for me."

Hamilton says that it is harder to defend a championship lead than to chase the front man down - and he thinks he is going to have to refocus his efforts for the final three races of the campaign.

"It is always easier when you are chasing someone than defending," he said. "When you are leading it is a lot harder to maintain that consistency and everything.

"I feel I am going to come away from this weekend, I have still got points, and I think I just need to refocus myself for the last three races. It has been a fast and intense season."

And Hamilton does not believe that the current form of Alonso, who has finished ahead of him in the last three races, is a result of the Spaniard's greater experience shining through.

"In Turkey, I had the upper hand and I was just unfortunate that my tyre exploded. In the last two races Fernando has done a fantastic job.

"I don't know if that is going to be the way it is going to be for the rest of the season, I need to pull my socks up I guess. You have to experience losing as much as you do winning, I wouldn't say I particularly lost this race I just haven't done as well as everybody else."

Hamilton did not want to completely rule out a serious title challenge from Kimi Raikkonen, who dominated at Spa-Francorchamps.

"The pace was awesome in the race," said Hamilton about the Ferrari driver. "The gap is 13 points now so he has closed the gap quite significantly but I don't know.

"I don't know how quick they are going to be at the next few races. We need to go away and figure out how we can find more time."