Jun 19, 2008, 12:01 GMT
Magny-Cours, France - Lewis Hamilton aims to rebound from his Canadian embarrassment on an alien track for his team at the French Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
Robert Kubica hopes for another great result after his maiden win two weeks ago in Montreal.
World champion Kimi Raikkonen also wants success after not finishing in Monaco and being the victim of a rookie mistake by Hamilton two weeks ago in Canada.
Hamilton slammed his McLaren-Mercedes into the Ferrari of Raikkonen, who stopped in front of a red light at the pit exit during the Montreal race.
The freak incident paved the way for Kubica to win a first F1 race for himself, his home country Poland and his MBW-sauner team, and to move into first place in the world championship standings.
Hamilton was punished for the embarrassing incidents and will be docked 10 places in the starting grid for Sunday's race in Magny- Cours.
The Briton will likely make it into the points despite the penalty due to a fast car, but a podium placing, let alone a victory, will be difficult.
'We've already looked at the best ways of optimising the strategy to help us move up the field and I guess I'll just have to pass some cars if I want to get into the points,' said Hamilton.
'Mentally, it (the Montreal incident) is just something that you learn to overcome quickly. It certainly wont affect my preparations for the French Grand Prix.'
However, McLaren seem to have history against them in Magny-Cours as the team's last win dates back to David Coulthard's success eight years ago in 2000.
'As our record shows, the French Grand Prix has never been an easy race for us,' admitted Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug.
'Maybe we will find a special strategy for Lewis which will help him to move up, his task is downright difficult, as according to our experience of Magny-Cours there is some kind of ban of overtaking there! However, we wont give up.'
Hamilton can not afford to lose further ground in the championship where he is locked on 38 points with Ferrari's Felipe Massa, four points behind Kubica (42) and three ahead of Raikkonen (35).
The Finnish world champion won last year's edition as Ferrari have won five of the last seven races there.
As a result, the Italian team will be more disappointed than McLaren that the countryside course will stage an F1 race for the last time as the French GP moves to a new location in the future.
'I like this track and I think it is perfect for our car,' said Raikkonen, who needs to get his title ambitions back on track after earning no points in Monaco and Canada.
'I don't remember when I ever had such a great lust for winning.'
Kubica got the sweet taste of success for the first time and hopes to continue in strong fashion in France.
'I hope we will once again have made some improvements to the car, which will help us to close the gap to Ferrari and McLaren. My goal is to score as many points as possible and to still be in a strong position after the race,' he said.
BMW motorsport chief Mario Theissen promised that 'we won't sit back' after meeting the season aim of winning a race.
The GP weekend starts on Friday with two practice rounds, another practice and qualifying is on Saturday and the 70-lap race on the 4.411-kilometres course on Sunday.
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