"When I'm going through the Roggia corner, the two Lesmos and down to Ascari, I look at the trees that surround the circuit and I feel relaxed. On a sunny day, it's a beautiful place to be racing. But the speed is so high, and the downforce is low, so the car feels very light and it can still be quite scary approaching the braking zones, no matter how relaxed you are. I couldn't say what the key is to being quick there though. I just do what I do, and I'm always quick - so that must be the secret.”

Simply finishing ahead of Senna in the feature race on Saturday should be enough for Pantano to clinch the crown, but finishing second to his rival would also do the trick, even if Senna managed to take pole and fastest lap as well. The iSport driver needs to make sure he finishes in the top four if he doesn't manage to claim a feature race bonus just to ensure the battle goes to Sunday, or sixth if he adds the extra points on offer - assuming Pantano does not add to his tally in the first race.

“Colliding with [Sebastien] Buemi was a disappointing way to end what had been a good race at Spa, but the title fight is still alive," Senna insisted, "I have quite a bit of ground to make up at Monza, but I was very quick when we tested in low-downforce configuration earlier this year and I'm confident we can end the year with a flourish.”

The teams' championship is equally closely-fought, with di Grassi's Barwa International Campos outfit holding a tenuous two-point advantage over Senna's iSport International. Both teams have shown themselves to have potential racewinners in both seats, with Vitaly Petrov and Karun Chandhok respectively, while third-placed Piquet Sports should probably have won more than just the sprint event at Spa, with Pastor Maldonado and Andy Zuber on board.

Pantano's Racing Engineering equipe is fourth overall, just a point behind Piquet, thanks largely to the Italian's contribution. Double champion ART Grand Prix is not quite out of the reckoning for a third title, but would have to take the maximum 33 points on offer at Monza and hope that Campos and co fail to register.