Lewis Hamilton last year in Brazil.  He wasn't smiling after the race

Lewis Hamilton heads to Interlagos for the second time this weekend in an almost identical position to last year, leading the championship as he bids for his maiden Formula One crown.

There are a couple of differences 12 months on though, the first being that Ferrari's Felipe Massa is the only rival still close enough to deny the McLaren-Mercedes man the title, and the second that Hamilton's overall lead is also greater.

In 2007 he had led by a dozen points with two rounds remaining, only for a retirement in China to slash that advantage to four points from his then team-mate Fernando Alonso and seven from Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton then finished seventh in Sao Paulo, leaving Alonso level with him on 109 points thanks to his third and allowing Raikkonen to steal the crown thanks to his win in the season finale.

This time around Hamilton's recent victory in Shanghai has taken him to 94 points and a seven-point buffer from Massa, meaning if he can finish at least fifth on Sunday he will shut Massa out.

Last year Ferrari and Alonso (who hated his McLaren teammate)celebrated Hamilton's defeat

Hamilton won't only have Massa to deal with though with Raikkonen sure to try and make the Briton's life tough as Massa looks to make it successive titles for Ferrari drivers after Michael Schumacher had won five straight for the Italian team from 2000-2004.

Raikkonen and Massa have also won the past two Brazilian Grands Prix, while then Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella five years ago and Red Bull's David Coulthard (2001) are the only other current drivers to have triumphed in Sao Paulo.

Local hope Massa was also second last year, while his compatriot Rubens Barrichello of Honda has a best finish of third in a race he has also failed to finish an amazing 11 times and the third Brazilian, Nelsinho Piquet, is set for his first Formula One trip there.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who was fifth at Interlagos last year after finishing ninth there in 2006, has one hand on third place with 75 points, although Raikkonen, who is six points back, also boasts a hat-trick of seconds in Brazil.

Kubica's team-mate Nick Heidfeld (60) should finish fifth, although Renault's Alonso (53) has finished no worse than fifth in the past five years and he and Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen (51) could still overhaul Heidfeld if results go their way.

Interlagos is perhaps Mark Webber's worst track, the Australian having failed to finish in his past four starts in Brazil with Jaguar (2004-05), Williams (2006) and Red Bull (2007) after managing 11th with Minardi in 2002 and ninth with Jaguar five years ago.

Webber is currently 11th with 21 points and can match his best season placing of 10th in 2005 when with Williams if he can overtake Timo Glock (22), but a higher finish looks unlikely with Sebastien Vettel and Jarno Trulli both nine points ahead of him.

The Canberran - who scored 36 points when he was 10th three years ago - will also have to be on his guard as he can still also be overhauled by Piquet (19) and Nico Rosberg (17) for 11th place.

As well as the title that Hamilton and Massa are chasing this weekend, the constructors' championship will also be decided, with Ferrari leading the way on 156 points as it chases its second in a row and eighth in the past decade.

Winless in the constructors' stakes since 1998, McLaren-Mercedes (145) is close enough to steal Ferrari's thunder but must also keep an eye on BMW Sauber (135) at a circuit where McLaren boasts 11 wins to Ferrari's nine.

All eyes will be on Hamilton and Massa this weekend but with the experience of what happened to him last year still fresh in his mind, expect Hamilton to atone for that disappointment and win his first world championship.