Webber's chance to eclipse Vettel

Mark Webber has the chance to achieve something unique on his 215th and final grand prix start on Sunday in Brazil. If he wins, which is not such an unrealistic prospect given that he's driving a Red Bull and has been on pole for two of the last four races, he'll be the only driver to win single-handedlyon his swansong world championship outing before retiring from Formula 1.

Ignoring the ever-irritating anomalies thrown up by the 11 Indianapolis 500s from 1950-1960 that were technically part of the world championship but in reality nothing of the sort,only two drivers have won on their final world championship start: Luigi Fagioli in the 1951 French GP, which owed more to Juan Manuel Fangio's virtuosity after he took over the veteran Italian's Alfa Romeo, and Jim Clark at Kyalami in 1968.

Unfortunately, Clark's feat was not achieved in his final world championship outing before retirement, but in the last before losing his life in the Deutschland Trophy Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.

Webber has made much of the fact that he's retiring from F1 on his own terms and has the chance to achieve something that even team-mate Sebastian Vettel hasn't, nor will have the opportunity to do for some years.

Webber won in Brazil in 2011 © LAT

In many ways, Interlagos is the ideal track for Webber to bow out at. He has won there twice, in 2009 and 2011, and was a close second to Vettel in 2010.

There have been other highlights too, notably a superb third place on the grid for Jaguar in 2003. It's a Webber kind of track, somewhat old school compared to the modern Tilkedromes that he often gives short shrift to.

Few would begrudge Webber a farewell victory. His form has been good in recent races and he would have beaten Vettel to pole position at Austin but for a scruffy final two corners.

While there remain question marks over his starts, if he can begin up front and hold the lead from the line he'll have every chance of a valedictory victory.

While it's become fashionable in some quarters to deride the Australian's efforts, he has had a remarkable career. It was incredible that he even reached F1, and his grand prix career might have stretched only to those first few races with Minardi had his class not shone through.

While he's not been able to match Vettel, he is not the first very good driver to be made to look average by a great one, and his nine victories are testament to his qualities.

The perfect farewell would be to make that a nice round 10.

VETTEL'S NEED FOR NINE

The major obstacle in Webber's way is team-mate Vettel. The German has shown no interest in easing off now he has a fourth world championship in the bag and for all his protests about not caring about records, he would love to make it nine wins in a row at Interlagos.

Thanks to our anomalous old friend the Indy 500, there are question marks over exactly what the consecutive-wins record really is. Before Vettel made it eight in a row in the United States GP, some reckoned he shared the record with Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher with seven on the bounce.

But ignoring the 1953 Indy 500, which he did not contest, Ascari's run actually takes in consecutive wins from the 1952 Belgian GP to the same race a year later.

That's what Vettel is gunning to match. Based on what we've seen in recent races, there is no reason to relegate him from favourite status. And Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has warned there will be no favours.

THE BATTLE FOR SECOND

While second place in the constructors' championship is not the most exciting achievement in sporting terms, financially it's very lucrative. As it stands, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus are all still in contention.

Mercedes is in the box seats, 15 points clear of Ferrari. Lotus is very much the outsider, 33 points down. Realistically, it's Mercedes versus Ferrari for second, with Lotus's ambitions perhaps more sensibly aimed at trying to nick third from Ferrari.

With 43 points up for grabs in the case of a one-two and six cars in play, it's likely to be a fascinating storyline as the battle see-saws during the grand prix.

THE BATTLE FOR 10TH

With the midfield slots in the constructors' championship relatively stable, the other major battle is the one at the back for 10th place. Marussia has held the initiative since the first race of the season, but it's still finely balanced.

A single 13th place will be enough for Caterham to jump ahead into 10th, provided there aren't any Marussias further up the road. It's certainly possible; after all, everyone at Marussia will remember what happened last year.

Marussia went into the race holding 10th and was in good shape. Even once Timo Glock's race had been ruined by being hit by Jean-Eric Vergne while the German was in the mix for a points finish, Charles Pic, then at Marussia, looked to have the situation covered.

But with only five laps remaining, Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov passed Pic and went on to finish 11th, enough to give the green team the all-important 10th.

That's why nobody at Marussia will be counting their chickens, or any other form of poultry for that matter.

MASSA'S FERRARI FAREWELL

Felipe Massa has enjoyed some special moments at Interlagos, winning the race twice and handing victory in 2007 to Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Most famous was his remarkable dignity after having been on the brink of winning the world championship in 2008. When Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock in the final seconds of the race to take the crown by a point, Massa did himself tremendous credit with the way he handled defeat.

The fantasy farewell would be victory at Interlagos. That's a long shot, but a top-three finish is not out of the question even though he's only stood on the rostrum once this season. But he did finish third last year, so the home fans can go into the weekend with the hope that Massa can end his long Ferrari career on a high.

GROSJEAN'S GOLDEN RUN

Other than Vettel, Romain Grosjean has been the star of the second half of the season. In the last five races he's finished on the podium four times, with only a fourth place in Abu Dhabi breaking the run.

The Lotus is still the second best car on the grid and there's every chance that the Franco-Swiss driver can be in the top three yet again. The question is, can he finally claim that maiden grand prix victory?

It's not impossible. It requires Vettel to hit trouble, but as Grosjean showed at Austin he can beat Webber in a straight fight. He's come a long way since his disastrous outing here last year when he collided with Pedro de la Rosa's HRT while attempting a foolish overtaking move in qualifying, and then shunted early in the race.