Another Formula One season comes down to the last race of the year, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa vying for their first career title at the Brazilian Grand Prix. In a thrilling season in which seven different drivers won races and as many as four led the series in points, Hamilton arrives in Brazil for Sunday's GP with a seven-point lead over home-crowd favorite Massa. Hamilton needs only a fifth-place or better finish to ensure he becomes F1's youngest champion at age 23, and the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996. “I have to look at things realistically and appreciate that I have another weekend of maximum effort ahead of me,” Hamilton said. Massa retains a chance to become the first non-European driver to win the title since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, and the first Brazilian champion since the late Ayrton Senna in 1991. But he has to win or finish second and rely on Hamilton finishing down the field. “It is impossible to predict what will happen, but I think our car has always been very good at this circuit,” Massa said. “I have my people behind me and all the pressure will be on (Hamilton), especially when you think about what happened at this race last year.” Hamilton came to Brazil heavily favored to win the title last year too, but a mistake trying to make a pass in the first lap and then a gear box problem led to a seventh-place finish that was not enough to give him the title. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen beat Hamilton and Renault's Fernando Alonso in what was the tightest F1 title race in more than 20 years. The 2006 season also went to the wire, with Alonso taking the title by edging Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in Interlagos. The Brazilian GP has crowned the F1 champion the last four years. Alonso also clinched the title when the race was the third-to-last in the 2005 calendar. Despite Hamilton coming to Brazil with the title all but secured, the 2008 season was one of the most exciting in several years. In addition to Hamilton and Massa, other winners included Raikkonen, Alonso, Robert Kubica of BMW, Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren and Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso. Kubica, Kovalainen and Vettel were first-time winners. – AP __
