Preview: Stage set for title show-down

By Jens Marx Oct 5, 2006, 14:20 GMT

Suzuka, Japan - If anybody had wanted to place a bet on Michael Schumacher winning an unprecedented eighth Formula One title three months ago, he would have received great odds.

Ahead of Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix the odds have shortened considerably and the German is now 8-15 that he will win the title in his final season.

Schumacher goes into the race having won five of the last seven races and having managed to whittle down Fernando Alonso's 25-point lead.

Schumacher and Alonso are both on 116 points, but the Ferrari driver is placed ahead of his Spanish rival by virtue of having won one race more and could, as a result, even win the championship in Sunday's penultimate race of the season.

However, to do that, he would need to win and Alonso fail to get into the points - something that has happened only twice this season, at the Hungaroring and at Monza.

But the Renault driver is clearly a worried man - although he waxes lyrically about his and Renault's chances on the team's website - he has criticized both team and team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella after finishing second to Schumacher in the last race on Sunday in Shanghai.

The defending champion at first said that his team had done nothing for him in the race and that there were people in Renault who did not want him to take the title as he was leaving the team to join McLaren-Mercedes next season.

His latest criticism was levelled at Fisichella, who had in Shanghai overtaken him and chased away with Schumacher. 'That is as if one has a flat tyre during the Tour de France and your team and all opponents continue to climb a hill, leaving you behind,' he said at the official press conference in Suzuka on Thursday.

The Italian was surprised when told about Alonso's outburst. 'We spoke with each other half an hour before he made the statement. I am surprised and a bit disappointed that he says these things to the media and not me.'

But while things are not looking too cosy in the Renault camp, Ferrari and Schumacher's team are smiling all the way. 'The car ran very well in Shanghai. And of course I was very happy to win there at last.

'Fernando (Alonso) and I are now equal on points; if we look back some while ago it is a miracle that we are there, thanks to great work by everyone at Ferrari and Bridgestone we've managed it and go to the last two races like this,' Schumacher told the Formula 1 website.

But even though he could, theoretically, win the championship in Suzuka, his manager Willi Weber has said that they will definitely not plan anything.

Nine years ago Weber had caps printed ahead of the final reace celebrating Schumacher's title win but Jacques Villeneuve then snatched the title from him in the last race.

Nevertheless Weber believes that Schumacher will take the title. 'We have overtaken Renault now and have moved onto the overtaking lane. We will not let them snatch the title.'

Schumacher and Alonso are not the only drivers hoping for victory in Suzuka though, with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen wanting to repeat last season's success.

'There is no reason why we should not be competing at the front again. There are for sure many different characteristics across the circuit and you get to really push the limits all the way round, which is fantastic,' he said.