Fernando Alonso is adamant Ferrari cannot afford any complacency if they want to retain their lead in the Drivers' Championship.
Heading to Montreal for the seventh race of this campaign, Alonso is holding a three-point advantage over Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in the standings.
It is an impressive feat given Ferrari's dismal start to the season and initial fears that the situation was so dire they may be forced to write off the year.
Instead, Ferrari introduced several major upgrades for their F2012, which have resulted in back-to-back podiums for Alonso and the lead in the Drivers' Championship.
Alonso, though, has warned Ferrari against complacency, saying there is still work to be done to improve their pace especially in qualifying.
"We need to improve the pure pace of the car," Alonso told Autosport.
"For Sundays we normally are a little bit more competitive. We take advantage of the experience from the team and the talent from the team in terms of preparation for the race, the starts, and the strategy.
"But we know that we are not fast enough, especially on Saturday when we are all in the same conditions, with low fuel and new tyres. We are struggling to be in Q3 sometimes, and we are not anywhere close to pole position.
"With that, that we are now leading the championship is something that we cannot maintain if we are not quick enough.
"We are not the fastest on the track, so that is something that we need to look for and hopefully in Canada we will see another step forward from the team and we are close again to the top guys. But we will not know until after qualifying."
The double World Champion believes consistency will play a huge role in this year's title race, although warns the picture could change if one team suddenly pulls away from the pack.
"I think as long as there are different winners in races, you need to be consistent if you want to lead the Championship.
"If sooner or later we arrive now at some races, maybe in July, when there are three races in four weeks, and in those races one guy manages to win two races, then you need something more than consistency."
