Much as Lewis Hamilton would like to forget his costly pitlane accident at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal two weeks ago, it is haunting him this weekend and is likely to play a decisive role in the placing he achieves in tomorrow's French Grand Prix.

Hamilton drove into the parked Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in Montreal as the two emerged from their first pitstop, a calamity that drew a rare outburst from “The Iceman” (who called Hamilton's driving “stupid”) and ruined both of their races.

While Raikkonen, the world champion, has put the affair behind him, Hamilton is carrying a ten-place grid penalty into this weekend's race for “causing an avoidable collision” and, possibly more irritatingly for him, he has had to face constant reminders of his misdemeanour in his appearances before the press.

Yesterday the normally happy-go-lucky Hamilton was replaced with a stony-faced young man whose body language and curt answers suggested that he is fed up with the issue. His father, Anthony, who manages him, is also said to be irritated by some of the coverage and the way his son is being treated. They want nothing more than to move on.

The best way to do that would be for Hamilton to drive to his third win of the season on this circuit in rural Burgundy tomorrow, but that looks beyond even his prodigious talents because he will start a race for the first time in his short career in Formula One outside the top ten on the grid.

The penalty means that if the McLaren Mercedes driver manages to put his car on pole in qualifying today, he will start from eleventh on a track that has few passing places and has been a Ferrari stronghold in the past decade. All in all, it adds up to a test of character for Hamilton and his team, who must curb their attacking instincts and try to come up with a race strategy and a measured rhythm that at least gets him in the points.

Hamilton has made two big errors this season - in Bahrain, where he selected the wrong engine setting on the grid, and in Canada. In both races he ended up without a point. Now trailing Robert Kubica, of BMW Sauber, in the drivers' championship by four points - he is joint second with Felipe Massa, of Ferrari - Hamilton can ill-afford another fruitless weekend.

The 23-year-old, who is to become a representative of the Reebok sports brand for £20 million, which will be added to the £75 million he is earning from McLaren over five years, seemed to accept that he is going to have to drive maturely and without taking risks tomorrow.

“I'm obviously aiming to win, but realistically I think we just have to try and aim for a podium finish if possible,” he said. “I think it's going to be very, very tough. As you can see, we're all very close and there are now quite a few teams that are very competitive and this is not an easy track to overtake on. So I will keep my fingers crossed and do the best job I can. I hope we can push and at least finish in the top five.”

One straw in the wind for Hamilton is the weather in Magny-Cours, which seems to be testing the forecasters, with some predicting a warm and sunny afternoon tomorrow that would be of little use to him, while others predict heavy thunderstorms, which could come in handy for a driver looking to make a leap from the middle of the field to the podium.

In practice yesterday Hamilton was second in the morning session behind Massa and fourth in the afternoon, when he had a big “off” into the gravel at turn three and when the Ferraris of Massa and Raikkonen were beaten to the top spot by a charging Fernando Alonso in the generally underperforming Renault. Alonso drove with great passion on Renault's home circuit, but said afterwards that his car's unexpected turn of foot was likely to be “fuel-related” - a sign of Renault's wounded ego as another forgettable season for the Oxfordshire-based team continues.

First free practice: 1, F Massa (BR, Ferrari) 1min 15.306sec; 2, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:16.002; 3, H Kovalainen (Fin, McLaren Merceds) 1:16.055; 4, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1:16.073; 5, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:16.377; 6, F Alonso (Sp, Red Bull Renault) 1:16.400; 7, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1:16.758; 8, S Vettel (Ger, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari) 1:16.838; 9, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 1:16.870; 10, T Glock (Ger, Toyota) 1:16.886; 11, N Piquet Jr (Br, Red Bull Renault) 1:17.063; 12, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull Renault) 1:17.234; 13, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull Renault) 1:17.269; 14, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams Toyota) 1:17.394; 15, R Barrichello (Br, Honda) 1:17.491; 16, S Bourdais (Fr, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari) 1:17.683; 17, K Nakajima (Japan, Williams Toyota) 1:17.696; 18, J Button (GB, Honda) 1:17.928; 19, G Fisichella (It, Force India Ferrari) 1:18.072; 20, A Sutil (Ger, Force India Ferrari) 1:18.673.

Second free practice: 1, Alonso 1:15.778; 2, Massa 1:15.854; 3, Raikkonen 1:15.999; 4, Hamilton 1:16.232; 5, Vettel 1:16.298; 6, Kubica 1:16.317; 7, Kovalainen 1:16.340; 8, Heidfeld 1:16.458; 9, Piquet Jr 1:16.543; 10, Coulthard Bull 1:16.572; 11, Rosberg 1:16.682; 12, Trulli 1:16.743; 13, Bourdais 1:16.758; 14, Nakajima 1:17.002; 15, Glock 1:17.092; 16, Webber 1:17.106; 17, Button 1:17.244; 18, Fisichella 1:17.394; 19, Barrichello 1:17.591; 20, Sutil 1:17.868.

Leading championship positions: Drivers: 1, Kubica 42pts; 2, Hamilton 38; 3, Massa 38; 4, Raikkonen 35; 5, Heidfeld 28; 6, Kovalainen 15; 7, Webber 15; 8, Trulli 12; 9, Alonso 9; 10, Rosberg 8; 11, Nakajima 7; 12, Coulthard 6.