- The Constructors Championship
While the main prize of the drivers championship maintains centre stage, it is worth remembering that F1 is, above all else, a team sport, and as such the poorer, slightly sickly cousin of the main championship should really be held in greater view than it currently is. In this fight, the roles from the drivers standings are reversed, with Ferrari holding a decisive nine point lead over their Anglo-German rivals, and McLaren realistically needing something wicked to befall at least one of the red machines to stand a hope of reeling the gap back in. Along with that, they will also need a performance of note from Heikki Kovalainen, who had his entire season to date summed up in last weekend's Chinese event. A dismally lacklustre qualifying effort saw him slip from top spot to fifth place on the grid in the final stages of the session, and then an unsurprising dose of bad luck saw his tyres, and then his engine, let him down in the race.
- Where will Alonso finish?
The mercurial form of the double world champion in an ape of a car has been the high point of the last few races. In fact, since the German Grand Prix back in late July, Alonso is the top point scorer of anyone in the field. All this has seen him leap up the drivers standings to a more than impressive 6th place, ahead of Kovalainen and within touching distance of Nick Heidfeld, both of whom have, over the course of the season, had a far better car at their disposal than Alonso. He would need to score seven points more than the German to displace him in the standings though, and perhaps that is a bridge too far for the Spaniard. But with Renault having guaranteed themselves fourth in the constructors championship last time out, he will be off the leash like never before at Interlagos, and you wouldn't bet against him to do something a bit spectacular right now.
- Battle of the Brand
Team Red Bull(TM) have a uniquely internecine scrap to resolve for the only rung on the constructors championship ladder still to be decided. Toro Rosso have used their late season turn of speed to move up to sixth place in the standings, five points clear of daddy Red Bull, a situation that barely looked conceivable earlier in the season when Mark Webber was making seventh place his own and Sebastian Vettel was struggling to complete the opening lap of a grand prix without retiring. But since then Red Bull's performance has flatlined, while Toro Rosso have secured a victory and a string of points placings. Given the wealth of faster machinery on show, achieving the necessary six points to overtake their B team may well be beyond RBR, especially with David Coulthard continuing to trawl new depths of pacelessness in his final season. Williams are still mathematically in with a chance of overhauling at least one of the caffeinated squads, but the warning from the team that Singapore would be their last hope of points for the year is proving astoundingly prophetic.
- Top ten
A berth in the top ten of the drivers standings is an achievement of sorts for the midfield runners on the grid, and there's one final spot in that decemviri of pilots. Timo Glock currently occupies that berth, but is a single point ahead of Mark Webber, while Nelson Piquet Jr and Nico Rosberg still have outside chances of nicking in ahead of them, should Brazil be a bit of a mad race. In fact, with the renewed speed of the Renault package, Piquet Jr may well hold out hopes of overhauling his three point deficit on genuine pace alone, but the Brazilian remains a good way behind his team mate in terms of race ability. Perhaps the partisan home crowd will help spur him on as much as they help Massa. But then, perhaps not.
- Button's quest
The hero to zero journey for Jenson Button seems nearly complete. Back in 2004 he was as good as Michael Schumacher and Ferrari had to a title challenger, albeit one that never looked like he had a hope of a race win, never mind a drivers title, and in 2006 he exorcised the monkey on his back by taking his first win in Hungary. But now, with one event to go, Button sits rock-bottom of the drivers standings (pointless teams notwithstanding, and more on them in a bit) with a measly three points for his drive in the Spanish Grand Prix all he has to show for a season of toil and strife. He needs to somehow score a point in Brazil to elevate him above Sebastien Bourdais, but even such a limited achievement has looked an impossible dream for Honda this season.
- A pointless team?
Finally, the beleaguered Force India squad remain the only F1 team without a point in 2008. Ok, technically them and Super Aguri, but it would be a bit unfair (not to mention meaningless) to take issue with the Goo's inability to score a point in the four races they actually entered. Instead, Force India's challenge for Brazil, should they choose to accept it, is to manufacture a way of getting one of their cars into the top eight. How they can achieve that, without sacrificing one car in a banzai, field-eliminating run up the inside into turn one, isn't exactly clear.
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