Well, the scene is set. 11 days to go till 1st Practice on Friday 31 October in Sao Paulo. Hamilton leads Massa by 7 points and only one of those 2 drivers can win the Driver's World Championship (unless they are both disqualified from the championship).

There are many permutations for how Hamilton can win his maiden World Championship to become the youngest ever F1 champion. Hamilton needs to finish at least 5th in the race to be sure of winning the title no matter what happens with Massa i.e. even if Massa finishes the race in first place, it will make no difference. As long as Massa doesn't catch up those 7 points, the title will belong to Hamilton.

Massa on the other hand needs to overhaul the 7 point lead that Hamilton has. Massa needs to finish in either first place with Hamilton no higher than 7th or Massa needs to finish in at least second place in the race with Hamilton no higher than 9th.

Mathematically, it looks unlikely that Massa can win but F1 is notoriously unpredictable - it's not over till it's over Kimi came from far back last season to win his maiden Driver's World Championship so anything is possible.

It's been a titanic battle between Ferrari and McLaren with BMW solidly in third place and Renault improving during the latter part of the season with 2 fantastic wins by Alonso.

As a patriotic Brit, it would give me great pleasure to see a fellow Brit take the title. Is it the right outcome? Yes - since Lewis has driven one of the 2 best cars in such a consistent way. But is Lewis the best driver? IMHO, no. I equally find it strange that Massa should win. I don't rate him as the best driver in F1. Kimi has made far too many mistakes this season sometimes driving like he is not 'switched on'.

Although I dislike his personality, IMHO there is no doubt in my mind that the best (and most complete all-round) driver of this present generation of drivers is Alonso. It's a pity for the sport that such an enormous talent is wasting his career in a second-tier team like Renault. It looks like Alonso will remain at Renault next season too. The only good news for him is that it looks like Renault will be much more competitive next year.

Is it 'justice' that the best driver will not be winning? IMHO, no. BUT plenty of people who really deserved the title haven't won it. Plenty of people who won it were not the best driver of their generation. They just happened to have a completely dominant car.

Just some random thoughts in the period leading up to the final race of this enthralling 2008 F1 season. Hope you have all enjoyed it as much as I have. Looking forward to an exciting race in Sao Paulo