Williams drivers
Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, after all, entered the last race in Adelaide back in 1986 lying first and second in the championship, but against all the odds bad luck conspired against the pair and it was Alain Prost who came through to pinch the title, ironically for
McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton and
Fernando Alonso will want to make very sure history does not repeat itself this weekend, to allow outsider
Kimi Raikkonen to steal the championship from underneath their noses.
“China was another valuable lesson for me this season,” remarked Hamilton following his failure to finish two weeks ago that dashed his hopes of wrapping up the title early, “and an incident I will take from and try to develop as a driver. I moved on from the disappointment pretty quickly though, and since leaving Shanghai my sole focus has been on Brazil.
“Interlagos is one of those circuits that everybody talks about. I understand it has a fantastic atmosphere, the fans are crazy for the sport and the track lends itself to great racing. It is another new circuit for me, and there has been a lot of talk by other people about how it is tricky to drive. That’s why I see it as a special challenge. and when I arrive at the track I will study it hard with my engineers and start to get an understanding of it.
“I’ve had some great races with the team this year, and I hope to have another one in Interlagos. Whilst I might be ahead by four points, this championship is still very open. I will do what I can to score the points I need, and the rest is out of our hands.”
Alonso – whose post-qualifying outburst made the headlines more than his second place finish last time out in China – is bidding to become only the third driver in the sport’s history to clinch three championships in a row. Though he lies four points adrift of his rookie team-mate in the standings – and thereby needs to finish at least two places ahead of the Briton in Brazil – São Paolo is a happy hunting ground for the 26-year-old, and he is clearly aiming to make it three-out-of-three.
