Motor Sport: Lewis Hamilton has admitted his prospects of winning at this weekend's French Grand Prix have been diminished by his 10-place grid penalty.
The 23-year-old was handed the penalty for the race at Magny-Cours after his gaffe in Montreal 11 days ago, when he crashed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the pit lane at 30mph.
Despite starting from what will be the lowest grid position of his F1 career, Hamilton's optimism has not taken a dent, unlike his car in Canada.
However, Hamilton has revised his earlier victory goal, adding: "I'm obviously always aiming to win.
"But realistically I think we just have to try and aim for a podium finish if possible.
"Even that is going to be very, very tough because we're all very close and there are now quite a few teams that are very competitive.
"This is also not the easiest track on which to overtake, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and do the best job I can, and I hope we can push and finish in the top five."