Ferrari have a lot to be concerned about after Lewis Hamilton's demolition job on them and everyone else in Sunday's German Grand Prix. Not only was the McLaren Mercedes faster than the red cars of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen at Hockenheim, but Hamilton was as calm and collected as a professional assassin after putting them to the sword.

In the past we have got used to Hamilton giving way to the ecstasy of victory and telling us in his moment of triumph that his latest win is the best of his career. There was none of that last weekend as he opened up a four-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship with eight grands prix remaining. The notable aspect of his demeanour was how controlled he seemed, his quiet confidence and the way that he talked about his performance as if it was routine.

After the erratic pattern of his results this season compared with last, could it be that Hamilton and his close advisers have changed his approach as he seeks stability, consistency and an emphasis on playing the “long game” that will bring him the World Championship of which he dreams? It seemed that way as he went through the motions afterwards in the way that Michael Schumacher used to. For the German, a win was never more than a stepping stone to the next race and to a title he won seven times.

When it was put to Hamilton that the mood was very different, he did not resist the analysis. “It's difficult to explain the feeling, but yes, it's a different feeling to when you win your first grand prix, but it is very, very satisfying when you come across the finishing line and you know that you have done everything right,” he said. “Now I can go home. I've got no worries on my mind. I've not finished second and I'm not thinking ‘Oh, I've got to improve the next time.'

“I'm at the top of my game. I feel we, as a team, are at the top of our game. We have just got to keep working in the same way as we are doing and change nothing and keep working hard.”

The next stop the weekend after next is the Hungaroring near Budapest, a McLaren favourite where Hamilton drove to victory in difficult circumstances last season, at the end of a weekend when the team were torn by the bitter row between him and Fernando Alonso, his team-mate at the time. This was the infamous weekend of “pitlane-gate”, when Hamilton ignored team orders to allow Alonso through in qualifying and then Alonso retaliated by delaying Hamilton in the pits.

Twelve months later, with Alonso stuck in the mire at Renault - he had another less than impressive race in Germany on Sunday, finishing eleventh - and with Hamilton dominant over his new team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, the Briton is looking ahead to a possible third win in a row. And he chose not to dwell on the negative elements from last year. “I've only had 20-something races, so I haven't had much chance to do it,” he said of his prospects of a third consecutive win. “We've obviously got the momentum. We've obviously got a good car, but we'll have to wait and see. It would be good to go to Hungary with a free mind and hopefully we can emulate the great experience we had last year and do a good job.”

At Silverstone earlier this month, when Hamilton drove to an epic win in the rain, neither he nor McLaren put a foot wrong. In Germany, Hamilton was again error-free, but McLaren made what was arguably a strategic blunder in keeping him out under the safety car, which forced their driver, after pitting for the second time, to fight his way back to the front from fifth to secure victory. That may have been a mistake by the strategists, but in the main part of their job - providing Hamilton with the fastest car - McLaren have got it right.

Ron Dennis, the team principal, alluded to this afterwards. “Lewis did a fantastic race,” he said. “I think it was the first stint when his pace was blistering, but through the whole race we were comfortably quicker.”

In Maranello, the Ferrari boffins are going to have to respond or they will be hearing more criticism from their drivers. Massa said that he did not have the car to fight Hamilton and Raikkonen, who was sixth on Sunday, seemed bemused by his car's lack of pace. “I don't know whether it was the set-up or what, but we had difficult handling all weekend,” he said.

Niki Lauda believes that Lewis Hamilton could become “unbeatable” after the Briton won the German Grand Prix on Sunday. The three-times former Formula One world champion was impressed by Hamilton's past two performances, which have given the 23-year-old a four-point lead in the drivers' championship.

Lauda has previously been critical of the McLaren Mercedes driver, notably after wasting his chance to win the World Championship last year, but he believes that Hamilton has got his act together with wins in the British Grand Prix, on July 6, and in Hockenheim. “If he continues to drive like this, he is going in the right direction, no question,” Lauda said. “If he continues like this, he is unbeatable.”