Looking at this list, it becomes clearer that Kimi Raikkonen's chances are very slim indeed. The largest gap that was overcame in the final race was six points - when Nigel Mansell's tyre exploded at Adelaide in 1986, allowing Alain Prost to win the Championship.

However, there's always the chance of retirement for Schumacher. In 1998 Schumacher retired, albeit in a virtually hopeless position at the time. In 1997 the German put himself out of the final race after ramming into rival Jacques Villeneuve. In 1996 Villeneuve was the one who retired while having a small chance to win the title in his debut year. 1994 of course was the year when Schumacher and Hill collided, both retiring from the race. As mentioned before, 1986 was another year where a retirement sealed the championship. In 1983 Alain Prost retired in the final race, giving Piquet the title. Three years before, Nelson Piquet spun off while having a small chance.

1976 was a special case. Niki Lauda had been dominant all through the season, until disaster struck at the Nurburgring. The Austrian was leading the Championship with 61 points - 31 ahead of Jody Scheckter and 35 ahead of James Hunt - when he crashed and nearly died in the German Grand Prix. Lauda made a miracle recovery, but after he missed the Austrian and Dutch races, Hunt was only 14 points behind. And, when Hunt won in Canada and America, the gap was reduced to only three points coming to Japan.

Qualifying at the Fuji circuit had both drivers close together, Hunt in second and Lauda in third, while Lotus driver Mario Andretti grabbed pole. The teammates of Hunt and Lauda were a long way behind - Ferrari's Regazzoni in seventh and Hunt's McLaren teammate Jochen Mass way back in 12th. On race day, rain was pouring down exceptionally hard, having several drivers question whether it was at all safe to start the race.

The race went underway as planned, though, and Hunt grabbed the lead from the start. However, by lap two the Championship fight took an unusual turn: Niki Lauda pulled into the pits, withdrawing from the race. The Austrian simply valued his life over the Championship. This left Hunt free to take it easier. The Briton finished third in the end, winning the Championship.

So all in all no less than eight last-race Championship deciders ended in one of the contenders retiring from the race, and in three of these cases the Championship leader lost the title because of it.

In Suzuka not only the Drivers' Championship is at stake - the Constructors' Championship will also reach a last race climax. For the first time since 1997 Williams has a chance to grab the title and keep Ferrari from winning their fifth consecutive Championship. However, if the Maranello team wins, that will be a record. Currently the record for most consecutive Constructors' Championships is held by Ferrari (1999-2002) and McLaren (1988-1991).

Looking at the past results at Suzuka, anything speaks in Michael Schumacher's advantage. There's no statistical category the German doesn't lead. Since 1994 he finished on the podium in every race bar one - the 1998 race, where he retired with a blown tyre. Furthermore, Schumacher won the race in the last three Japanese Grands Prix.

Qualifying at Suzuka also appears to be a specialty of Schumacher. In the last five races he scored pole position. Over those five years, only Mika Hakkinen was able to come within four tenths of Schumacher's pole, on three occasions.