Formula One - Brazilian Grand Prix Preview

Leading contenders Name 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Fernando Alonso 19th 3rd 4th 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd Kimi Raikkonen 12th 12th 2nd 2nd 2nd 5th Won 3rd Sebastian Vettel 18th 4th Lewis Hamilton 7th 5th Mark Webber 18th 17th 21st 20th 9th Jenson Button 10th 4th 12th 20th 7th 3rd 19th 13th Rubens Barrichello 21st 21st 11th 3rd 6th 7th 16th 15th

Notes Last season, Felipe Massa claimed the final race of the season in Brazil,as he outlasted the field for his sixth win of the 2008 campaign and 11th ofhis F1 career. Despite winning the race, Massa finished second to LewisHamilton in the race for the Formula One World Championship. Massa, whostarted on the pole for the third straight year, easily defeated FernandoAlonso by over 13 seconds. Hamilton was on the verge of losing the title toMassa as he was running sixth on the final lap, but the McLaren driver passedToyota's Timo Glock and grabbed the coveted fifth spot as he entered the lastcorner.Glock along with Massa will not compete this week. Glock suffered injuriesduring qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month, while Massacontinues to recuperate after his crash during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifyingback in July. Kamui Kobayashi will replace Glock in the field.With two races remaining, Jenson Button owns a 14-point advantage over RubensBarrichello and a 16-point lead over Sebastian Vettel. In 15 races, Button hassix wins and 14 top-10 finishes, however he has placed in the top-3 just oncesince June.After four straight top-5 finishes, including three seconds, Kimi Raikkonenbroke through into the winners circle in Brazil back in 2007, as he defeatedFelipe Massa by 1.5 seconds for the 15th of 17 career F1 titles, leapfroggingFernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to capture the 2007 Formula One driverschampionship. With the win, he became Ferrari's 15th World Champion and thefirst since 2004.In 2006, pole sitter Massa stole the show, as he cruised to a whopping victoryover Alonso in the season's final race. Michael Schumacher, who was making hisfinal F1 start, placed fourth. Starting first on the grid, Massa dominated therace and finished 18.6 seconds ahead of Alonso for the second of his 10 careerFormula One title.Alain Prost was a six-time winner of this race, while Schumacher recorded fourwins in Brazil. Prost finished with 51 career wins, while Schumacher 91.Built back in 1973, the original track was 4.949 miles in length, one of thelongest of any track used in any era. It was made up of a sweeping outersection, followed by a tight and twisty trail through the infield. The trackis very bumpy, and it takes great reflexes and skill to have control of thecar in any given situation, the tight corners posing some serious problems forthe speeding machines. A chicane has since been placed at the first corner, toslow the cars down.Giancarlo Fisichella secured his very first Grand Prix victory - and Jordan'sfinal win - in the 2003 event, despite the fact that Kimi Raikkonen wasinitially declared the winner in a confusing accident strewn event.The pole sitter has won this race twice in the past three years, includinglast year when Massa turned the trick. Emerson Fittipaldi was the first winnerfrom the pole back in 1974.The 2009 Formula One season concludes November 1st with the inaugural runningof the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.10/13 17:53:54 ET