Preview: Schumacher bids farewell to F1 and to Senna

By Elmar Dreher Oct 19, 2006, 10:34 GMT

Sao Paulo - Michael Schumacher bows out of the sport of Formula One this weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix looking to finish his incredible racing career on a winning note rather than in a cloud of controversy.

The Ferrari driver lies 10 points behind defending champion Fernando Alonso of Renault with just the Sao Paolo race to come.

Schumacher needs to win and for the Spaniard to either fail to finish or finish outside the top eight in order to complete a remarkable comeback for an eighth crown.

Both drivers would then be level on 126 points but Schumacher would become champion as he would then have eight race victories this season, one more than Alonso.

Schumacher said he doesn't want to see Alonso retire in the race but at the same time has not fully given up hope of a miracle.

'I don't think it is over at all. Until the final lap, when you know you are champion, anything can still happen and we are taking nothing for granted,' he said.

Alonso said his team will enter the race as if it were 'a normal weekend.' He will not have to take risks like Schumacher and has history on his side as well.

Schumacher may have seven titles to his credit but on all those occasions the German led going into the final race. In 1998, he went into the final GP of the season in Japan four points behind Mika Hakkinen but the Finn claimed victory and with it the title.

After failing to finish the Japanese GP at Suzuka when smoke started billowing from his Ferrari with 17 laps remaining, Schumacher's only real chance of the drivers' title is if Alonso fails to finish, which, although unlikely, isn't beyond the bounds of possibility.

Alonso's Renault blew up at the Italian GP at Monza in September and another technical failure on Sunday would leave the door open to Schumacher.

Even if the Renault package shows its normal reliability and Alonso guides his car home for the top eight finish he needs for a second successive championship, Schumacher and Ferrari still have the constructors' title to aim for.

Renault currently lead the standings by 195 to 186 but a Ferrari 1-2 of Schumacher and local hero Felipe Massa would clinch the constructors' crown for the Italian marque.

'I have said before that I would like to give my team the constructors title as a farewell gift, therefore our tactics will simply be attack.

'And it would naturally be nice to win the race. It would be a great finale for me and a welcome occasion to party big-time,' said Schumacher.

So there is still everything to play for but before his 250th and final race Schumacher put everything in perspective when he paid a visit this week to the grave of F1 legend Ayrton Senna, spending 15 minutes at the resting place of the Brazilian idol at the Morumbi cemetary in Sao Paolo.

Many F1 fans still hold a grudge against Schumacher for celebrating on the podium in Imola in 1994 after winning the San Marino Grand Prix in which Senna met his fate.

But the 37-year-old German visits Senna's grave most years and perhaps was also looking to close that chapter in his racing career before saying his farewell.

'I have neither the energy nor the strength to drive for the top in the future. I started questioning myself. That's why I reached this decision,' said Schumacher.