The 2008 Brazilian GP preview

So, it has come down to this. After 17 races, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa will touch down in Brazil as the only two drivers still capable of winning the world championship.

Hamilton has a seven-point advantage courtesy of his emphatic win in China two weeks ago, but you only have to cast your mind back to what happened at Interlagos last year to appreciate that a points lead at the start of the weekend doesn't come with any guarantees.

Whatever happens at Interlagos, Formula One is going to crown a new world champion. And as vehemently as those that support one camp or the other will disagree, the fact is that both of the contenders would be worthy recipients. Each has had his moments of genius during 2008, and equally, each has committed his share of howlers.

But there is more than just the drivers' championship on the line - the constructors' title is also up for grabs. Here, the ball is in Ferrari's court, and with an 11-point buffer over McLaren, it will be interesting to see how the Woking team copes with trying to juggle two very different challenges.

Five talking points

Confidence

Questions had been asked over Hamilton's ability to temper his natural instinct to go for victory at all cost on occasions where he might have been better served by playing it safe. His reply came with an outstanding performance throughout the entire weekend at Shanghai, culminating in arguably his best race of the season. It was a world away from what happened in China 12 months earlier, and that can only mean good things for his confidence going into Brazil this time around.

Felipe Massa © LAT

Ferrari's form

Ferrari already has a difficult task on its hands in trying to help Massa reel in a seven-point deficit at Interlagos, but their chances of doing so will depend hugely on which version of the team shows up. Will it be the super-fast, Singapore and Fuji-spec Scuderia, or the sluggish, there-or-thereabouts variety that rolled out in China and Germany? Ferrari itself has admitted to being mystified at its lack of consistency this year, but it cannot afford to be even slightly off the boil in Brazil if it is going to have any hope of transferring the number one to the other side of its garage.

Outside help

Interlagos will be a race where Massa and Hamilton find out just how many friends they have elsewhere along the grid. As much as this is a fight between two championship contenders, there are 16 other drivers out there who can have an impact upon the championship despite the fact that they are not driving Ferraris or McLarens. If either Hamilton or Massa has rubbed anyone up the wrong way during the season, this is where it could come back to bite them. You're not going to see someone trying to T-bone a silver or red car at the Senna Esses, but something as simple as delaying one of the protagonists for an extra couple of tenths while being lapped could make a huge difference. Fernando Alonso has already rather mischievously indicated that he'll be helping Massa if possible - can Hamilton rely on support from elsewhere?

Teammates

Hoping for an easy run through the traffic is one thing, but even more fundamental to the title protagonists' hopes is what sort of assistance they can get from their teammates.

In both cases there are question marks. Kimi Raikkonen's wavering form during the first two-thirds of the season appears to have steadied out - he had Massa well and truly covered for pace in China from qualifying onwards, despite carrying slightly more fuel. There has been some speculation over how motivated the Finn might be to help his teammate dethrone him as champion, but you could counter that by asking whether he'd be any more pleased to see it going to McLaren.

From a teammate point of view, Hamilton's situation seems a little more precarious. His dream scenario for the weekend would be for McLaren to lock out the front row in qualifying, thus protecting him from the Ferraris.

But since McLaren has only managed to qualify both of its cars on the front row once this year, that's not exactly a situation that he can rely upon. Kovalainen has not quite made the impact that had been expected of him so far this season, but if ever there was a time for him to stand up, this is it.

Lewis Hamilton © LAT

McLaren balance

Just as Hamilton has the edge in the drivers' championship, so does Ferrari in the constructors'. Ferrari's 11-point lead means that McLaren needs both Hamilton and Kovalainen to have great weekends, which is a tough enough job in itself. But more that that, the team will need to find a way to juggle the conservative, low-risk approach needed to get Hamilton safely across the line (he only needs to finish fifth) with enough aggression to keep Ferrari out of the top points-paying positions.

Key factors

1. Engine power

Not only is the main straight at Interlagos long, but it is also uphill, meaning that a strong engine will be critical for both overtaking and for keeping pursuers at bay. Teams typically lose around eight percent of their engine power at Interlagos due to the low air pressure - a consequence of the track's high altitude. But the fact that there is also less drag generated helps compensate for this.

2. Suspension

Interlagos is notoriously bumpy and that, coupled with the drivers' heavy reliance upon the kerbs in the tight second sector, means that finding a good suspension setup is crucial. The tricky part is settling upon a balance of a good ride and good mechanical grip.

3. Set-up

Like every track, finding the right setup for Interlagos is all about balancing compromises. But in this case, it's crucial that the car works well through the final couple of corners - if it doesn't, the driver is a sitting duck on the run up to turn one.

Strategy

It's touch and go as to whether Brazil is better raced as a one or a two-stopper, as the pitlane is quite long yet the fuel penalty is relatively low.

Robert Kubica tried a three-stopper last year and Hamilton gambled on a switch to the same strategy mid-way through the race in an effort to recover from his disastrous opening laps, but it's unlikely that the stunt will be repeated this week - particularly as the super-soft Bridgestones, which were very unpopular at last year's race, are not being used this time around.

Giancarlo Fisichella exits his race winning, but burning, Jordan Honda after the 2003 Grand Prix of Brazil © LAT

History

After such an eventful season, it was fitting that Brazil closed things off last season with an intensely dramatic race, and the most unlikely of new champions.

Hamilton flew off the track on the first lap, lost an age of time when his car mysteriously slowed shortly afterwards, and then failed to benefit from a switch to three stops, with an ultra-short stint on the super-softs. That was the Briton's hopes dashed, and when Massa allowed Raikkonen past to take the lead, the Finn was able to squeak home with the championship by a single point.

Interlagos has hosted its fair share of memorable races over the decades, and even if you limit the selection to recent times you're spoiled for choice.

Michael Schumacher made his final F1 start here in 2006, and after dropping to 19th with a puncture early in the race, the seven-time world champion signed off with a stirring drive back to fourth.

Then there was 2003, when it took several days for the correct winner to be determined.

On that occasion, diabolical conditions had already accounted for a large chunk of the field when Mark Webber crashed heavily at the final corner. Alonso came along shortly afterwards and ran into one of Webber's wheels at full speed, sending the Renault into the railings and creating a huge mess across the circuit that resulted in the race being red-flagged.

Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella had capitalised on a mistake by Raikkonen to take the lead a lap earlier and was initially awarded the win on countback, but even as the Jordan team began celebrating, they were informed that due to a technicality the countback was being based on two laps rather than one, and Raikkonen duly took the top step of the podium.

(Meanwhile, Fisichella's car added to Jordan's misery by catching fire while parked in pitlane).

Several days later however, a review of the results determined that Fisichella had in fact been the rightful winner after all, and the trophies were presented to Jordan at the next race at Imola.