The Brazilian GP is expected to be the most-watched race ever with a three-way fight for the drivers' title.
Spotlight on Interlagos ahead of season's dramatic finale
This season's Brazilian GP is expected to be the most-watched race in recent times as for only the 11th time in F1's history we have a three-way fight for the drivers' title.
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who head into this weekend's season finale separated by just seven points, will all be vying for a place in history.
Should Hamilton win he will become the first-ever rookie to claim the title, while if Alonso succeeds, he will be only the third driver to win three consecutive titles.
And the two who have done it in the past, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, both went on to win a fourth successive crown, which in Schumacher's case became a fifth before he was dethroned by none other than Alonso.
As for Raikkonen, the tifosi are desperate to find a world champion to replace Schumacher.
However, the odds are stacked in Hamilton's favour.
The McLaren driver not only has a four-point lead over his nearest rival, Alonso, but history also says that in a three-way fight, the lead driver has the best chance of clinching the title.
Five times during the ten three-way fights, the driver going into the final race with the most points has won, while on four occasions the man lying second has claimed the crown. And only once, back in 1950, did the third-placed man, who was Giuseppe Farina, steal the drivers' title.
That, though, won't be Hamilton's only advantage over his team-mate. The rookie will also be starting Sunday's race with a fresh engine while the power-unit that Alonso will be using has already gone through the Chinese GP weekend. Alonso is therefore expected to come up short by about 10 horse power compared to his team-mate's engine.
Raikkonen too will be starting the race with a new engine.
So it's safe to say that despite the controversy that has surrounded this year's Championship, F1 fans can expect the "race of the century" when we head to Brazil on Sunday.
Follow the race live on skysports.com with lap-by-lap commentary of all the action.
