Should Piquet live up to recent form, however, and take pole, victory and fastest lap in race one, he rise to 105 points. If Hamilton managed to come home second, the gap would be five points in his favour, although insufficient for the title and with Piquet having drawn level on total wins. Should the Briton take the point for fastest lap, the gap would be seven points but with a maximum of seven points on offer on Sunday, and with both drivers equal on wins, he still couldn't be declared champion.
Despite that, it remains Piquet’s mountain to climb, as Hamilton doesn't even need to score on Saturday - even if the Brazilian comes away with a maximum 13-point haul - to take the championship down to the wire. That scenario would see Piquet three points to the good - 104-101 - and with the upper hand, but few would bet against Hamilton continuing his stellar season in the feature event.
Monza's
pista magica could not be a more apt setting for GP2's second such showdown, but it isn't just the battle for first place that has to be settled this weekend. Although less lucrative, the scrap for third overall is no less intense, thanks mainly to
Timo Glock's form since switching from BCN Competicion to iSport International.
The German has hunted down Hamilton's ART Grand Prix team-mate Alex Premat since his mid-season squad swap, but the Frenchman still holds third position, albeit just four points to the good. Tipped to join Piquet as an F1 test driver next season, having been linked to the vacancy at Williams
F1, Glock has much to play for, while Premat will be desperate not to finish fourth overall for the second successive season, having failed by half a point to overhaul
Scott Speed in 2005.
![Lewis Hamilton - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/249867.jpg)
