Sao Paolo - The 2008 Formula One season reaches its thrilling conclusion with the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos this weekend when Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari's Felipe Massa battle it out for the drivers' world championship crown.

Hamilton needs just a fifth place finish to ensure he goes into the record books as the youngest ever F1 champion while Massa requires a win or second spot, and must also rely on his rival finishing outside the top five, to become the first Brazilian since

Ayrton Senna in 1991 to take the title.

Meanwhile, in the constructors championship, Ferrari hold a healthy 11-point lead over McLaren with BMW-Sauber a further 10 pints adrift.

Massa's need for Hamilton to finish down the field in order to have any chance of becoming champion has led former Jordan team principal Eddie Jordan to speculate that Ferrari could use dirty tricks but the Brazilian dismissed the suggestion out of hand.

"Playing dirty has never been part of my game," Massa said. "The only thing on my mind is winning the race."

Although Hamilton threw away a 17-point lead with two races to go last season to hand the title to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, the 23- year-old Briton showed when he won the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position on October 19 that he has the nerve to put in a dominant drive when necessary.

"I dont need to win the race, but that wont stop me from going into the weekend looking to be as strong as possible. Shanghai was a good example of that: we hit the ground running on Friday morning and never looked back," said Hamilton.

"Our aim wasnt to push too hard, but we found ourselves in a position at the front and took it comfortably from there. Thats what I am hoping to achieve in Brazil - a straightforward weekend that allows me to just focus on my car and my driving."

Even though he will have the expectations of a partisan home crowd on his shoulders Massa believes all the pressure is on Hamilton after his slip-up last season.

"I have zero pressure because I have nothing to lose," said Massa.

All the pressure will be on him. Especially when you think about what happened at this race last year."

Hamilton went into last season's race holding a four-point lead over then McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso and seven clear of Ferrari's Raikkonen.

However, a disappointing seventh-place finish coupled with a victory for Raikkonen saw the Finn pip the McLaren driver to the title.

While Massa is hoping history can repeat itself, Hamilton says he is older and wiser than in his rookie year.

"Last year, without the experience, I was a bit lost," admitted Hamilton.

"This year we go in with a much better approach but, despite that, I don't believe it gives us any reason to get ahead of ourselves."

As well as deciding the destination of this year's drivers' championship, the Brazilian GP also sees David Coulthard compete in his final F1 race before retiring after 15 years in the sport. (dpa)