This time last season Lewis Hamilton headed to Sao Paulo four points ahead, and his dreams were gone on the first lap. This time round Hamilton is seven points clear of nearest rival Felipe Massa, but what will he have to do to win his first title?
If Lewis Hamilton finishes fifth or higher in Brazil, he will be world champion. If he is sixth, rival Felipe Massa needs to win to draw level on 97 points (and then take the title on a countback, by six victories to five).
If Hamilton finishes seventh, Massa must still win (to take the title 97-96). If Hamilton is eighth, second would suffice for Massa.
They would be level on 95 points and five victories, but Massa would have three second places to Hamilton's two.
If Hamilton fails to score, Massa must finish first or second to become Brazil's fourth world champion (after Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna). If Massa finishes third or lower, Hamilton will be champion come what may.
Massa won the 2006 Brazilian GP - and dominated the event last year, until he sacrificed victory to support team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's title challenge.
Crumbling in parts and famously bumpy, Interlagos is one of the most charismatic and vibrant of all F1 circuits. It hosted the first Brazilian GP to count towards the F1 world championship, in 1973, and has been the race's permanent home since 1990.
Interlagos runs anti-clockwise, a distinction it shares with only Istanbul Park and Singapore on the current F1 calendar. Drivers' neck muscles are consequently exposed to unfamiliar g-force loads.
The first corner - the Senna S, a tight left-right complex than runs sharply downhill - is often a magnet for trouble on the opening lap.
Ralf Schumacher and Heikki Kovalainen collided there last season at the start of the German's final F1 race.
World Championship standings:
| Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton | 94 |
| 2 | Massa | 87 |
| 3 | Kubica | 75 |
| 4 | Raikkonen | 69 |
| 5 | Heidfeld | 60 |
| 6 | Alonso | 53 |
| 7 | Kovalainen | 51 |
| 8 | Vettel | 30 |
| 9 | Trulli | 30 |
| 10 | Glock | 22 |
| 11 | Webber | 21 |
| 12 | Piquet | 19 |
| 13 | Rosberg | 17 |
| 14 | Barrichello | 11 |
| 15 | Nakajima | 9 |
| 16 | Coulthard | 8 |
| 17 | Bourdais | 4 |
| 18 | Button | 3 |
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