McLaren to use splash-and-dash pit strategy this weekend?

The highest Lewis Hamilton can start on the grid in France this Sunday is 11th, thanks to a 10-place grid penalty, awarded after the pit-lane incident in Montreal two weeks ago. That’s a best-case scenario.

Hamilton has been in bullish moood about his chances in France, so we presume he’ll want to start as high up the grid as possible, to give himself the best chance of clearing some mid-field traffic early on. But he can only start from 11th if he runs light on fuel, drive brilliantly and qualifies on pole position, presumably ahead of the Ferraris and Bobby Kubica’s BMW Sauber. That suggests McLaren will put their No.1 driver on an aggressive three-stop strategy.