Hakkinen looking for a little bit of magic

The double world champion, whose McLaren-Mercedes has started the last three races in Sao Paulo from pole, could manage no better than third behind the Schumacher brothers this time.

And he admitted he faced an uphill battle this time to out-manoeuvre the superior power of Ralf Schumacher's BMW-Williams.

"Ralf's top line speed is very fast at the moment, so to be able to overtake him in a straightline, we will have to make magic," said the Finn.

But the Finn trailed pole-sitter Michael by only three tenths of a second as his and McLaren's title challenge looks to be getting back on song after two disastrous races.

"It is going to be very close racing I believe, and I will try and push them so perhaps they will make a mistake," he added.

Hakkinen attributes the team's leap forward after a dismal start to the season to the hard work McLaren has put in over the last six weeks.

"I was confident we could challenge this weekend because we have got new parts on the car and I really expected an improvement - and it happened," continued Hakkinen, who only has one championship point so far this season.

"I am very happy with the team. They have done some good work since the start of the season when we were having difficulties and this makes me feel very positive."