Sebastian Vettel insists he is not getting carried away despite a nearly perfect start to the 2011 season. The Red Bull driver took his third win in four races on Sunday to increase his lead in the standings to 34 points over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
With four pole positions in as many races, Vettel is looking unstoppable at the moment, but the reigning champion says it's important to go step by step.
"It's good to get as many points as you can at every single race," said Vettel. "We see how quickly it can change. We saw it last year with this guy [Alonso] coming and going, so we have to really go step by step, see every race as its own and try and maximize our points.
"A good start to the season always helps, but there is a long way to go. Four out of 19, so you can work out how many more points there are to get so we have to keep focused."
The German thanked his team for its hard work after he destroyed his car in Friday practice.
"All in all I am very happy. On Friday I had an accident and crashed the car badly. All the guys, even Mark's guys helped and fixed the car. It meant some extra hours which I am sorry for, but yesterday and today made up for it. I am pleased with the results and a big thanks to the team."
Vettel admitted he was open about his strategy, in the end stopping four times. He reckons Red Bull learned from its defeat in China to bounce back strongly this weekend.
"It wasn't easy from the start to know what is going to happen," he said. "You have an idea about the tires and how long they will last, but you have to wait for the first and second stints to see the trend.
"I could have stayed out on primes but if the safety car comes out you are on used tires, so I had a another short stint. I was very much in control, I am very happy with how we communicated with the race and how we reacted.
"I am very pleased and since China we have definitely made a step forward. We have learned our lesson and have to make sure we keep momentum into the next race."