http://uk.reuters.com/article/motorSpor ... 1820080611
WOKING (Reuters) - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton said on Wednesday he could still win next week's French Grand Prix despite a 10-place penalty on the starting grid.
"I feel quite confident that we can still win there. That's my job. I've got to have that belief in myself and the team," the 23-year-old Briton told a news conference at the McLaren factory.
"I still feel we can finish in the top three but it's going to be a real challenge."
Hamilton picked up the penalty after piling into the rear of Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the Canadian Grand Prix pit-lane last Sunday.
The accident, with the Finn stationary alongside Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber in front of a red light at the pit lane exit while the safety car was deployed, put the two championship frontrunners out of the race.
Raikkonen criticised Hamilton for the bizarre accident on Sunday and he sounded no happier about Hamilton's driving a few days later.
"I can't believe that somebody can hit you when you stand at the red light side by side with another car," he said on his Web site (http://www.kimiraikkonen.com). "I can't believe that he did not see the red light and, more than that, the two stationary cars down there.
"I think Hamilton deserved his penalty."