Schumacher

amilton's strong points position reduces his vulnerability to Ferrari tactics.

In theory, Ferrari could use Raikkonen to "back up" Hamilton in a way that is advantageous for Massa.

That basically means that if the Finn got in front of the McLaren, he could drive deliberately slowly enough to mess up Hamilton's race.he team employed this tactic with great success in Malaysia in 1999 to ensure the title battle between Ferrari's Eddie Irvine and McLaren's Mika Hakkinen went to the last race.

Michael Schumacher rode shotgun for Irvine, gifting the Northern Irishman the win and making Hakkinen's race a total misery with some pretty dubious behaviour.

Whether Raikkonen would be prepared to go as far as Schumacher, however, is another matter.

For one thing, it is just not his style to drive unfairly. He's hard, but not unfair - which is not something you could say about Schumacher.

For another, it is debatable how much - deep down - he really wants Massa to be champion. Although if you are paid $50m (£30.7m) a year, your employer might expect you to swallow a few things you don't like.

At the same time, Massa will be aware that if Hamilton fails to finish in Brazil, his task gets easier.

Schumacher famously took Damon Hill out to win the title in 1994, and tried unsuccessfully to do the same to Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

It is unlikely Massa would follow the German's lead - he and Hamilton have a reasonable relationship off the track, and it does not seem to be Massa's style.

All the same, it would be a good idea for Hamilton to avoid situations where he would be vulnerable to that sort of thing.