Lewis Hamilton is hoping the start of Sunday's Hungarian GP does not represent his only chance of getting ahead of Nico Rosberg, as the Briton eyes the world championship summit for the first time in 2016.
The battle for pole between the Mercedes drivers on Saturday at the Hungaroring produced a late twist, with Rosberg emerging on top in Q3 after yellow flags for a spinning Fernando Alonso proved less of a disadvantage on his lap.
Despite being the joint-record holder for wins at the Hungaroring, Hamilton admitted his weekend had "been a bit messy" after mistakes in practice and then in the wet phases of qualifying, when he nearly did not make the top 10.
Hamilton starts second on one of the season's most restrictive tracks for overtaking and asked if beating Rosberg to the first corner represented his best chance of getting ahead, the world champion replied: "It's definitely the most advantageous opportunity that there is.
"But there's going to be opportunities through the race depending on the weather and tyre usage.
"It's very hard to overtake here - you generally need to have a second and a half advantage on the car in front. If we go to turn one first and second [in grid order], that most likely means we're going to be following for a long time because it's so hot here, you can't actually follow too closely.
"All your temperatures get to the limit so you'd see me have to back away at least two or three seconds. After that is kind of a formality really."
Nonetheless, Hamilton can take solace from the fact that only two of the last eight pole sitters in Budapest have won the race - including both himself and Rosberg in the last two seasons.
"The Safety Car came into play one year for Nico, 2014 - there are lots of options," he said of a race in which recent years has produced unpredictable results.
"This is generally a great race, I hope there are lots of opportunities for me."
With just one point now separating the Mercedes drivers in the championship, Hamilton can move ahead by finishing ahead of Rosberg anywhere in the top eight in Sunday's race.