This week, for the penultimate round of the 2022 season, the Formula One World Championship heads to Brazil.

In one of those behind closed doors deals that it is probably best not to ask about Brazil's race is no longer the Brazilian Grand Prix but rather the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as if - US-style - further races are about to spring up in Rio and Brasilia.

Brazil has a special place in the hearts of all F1 fans for it has produced arguably three of the sport's great champions, who have won no less than 8 titles between them.

First there was Emerson Fittipaldi who won his titles with Lotus and McLaren before going on to enjoy success in CART (IndyCar), winning the title in 1989 and the Indy 500 twice.

Then came the ever-controversial Nelson Piquet, who won two titles with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team and a third with Williams. He tried his hand at the Indy 500, but suffered a serious crash during practice for the 1992 event and though he fully recovered he restricted his appearances from then on mainly to endurance racing.

With a fearsome reputation for speaking his mind, Piquet wasn't afraid who he insulted, as Nigel Mansell and countryman Ayrton Senna were to discover.

Age hasn't softened the Rio born racer, who has faced intense criticism over comments he made about Lewis Hamilton last year, and even in recent weeks about the new Brazilian president.

The third of Brazil's champions is, of course, Senna, arguably one of the greatest drivers to grace the sport, and who, had it not been for that fatal day at Imola in 1992, gone on to secure several more titles.

Since entering the sport, Lewis Hamilton has made no secret of his love and admiration for Senna, to the extent that for much of his career he has sported the Brazilian's colours on his helmet. Indeed, such is the seven-time champion's love for Senna and his country, earlier this week the Stevenage-born driver was made an honorary citizen.

Facing the very real prospect of his first win-less season since entering the sport, one can imagine how much Hamilton would love to turn things around this weekend. With no Brazilian on the grid, it is the Briton who will surely be the 'home' favourite.

Hamilton is one of three Interlagos winners in the current field. He and Sebastian Vettel having won the race three times, while Max Verstappen won in 2019.

Hamilton enters his 309th Grand Prix this weekend, moving him ahead of Schumacher and level with Jenson Button, fourth on the all-time list. Only Rubens Barrichello (326), Kimi Raikkonen (353) and Fernando Alonso (357) are ahead of the Briton. Spookily, after surpassing the 'magic' 300 races, no driver has gone on to win another race, a statistic that Hamilton will be keen to draw a line under.

The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace is the fourth-shortest track on the calendar only behind Monaco, Zandvoort and Mexico and with 72% of the lap time at full throttle, it is the second-quickest lap time of the year behind the Red Bull Ring.

800 metres above sea level, the second-highest altitude on the calendar behind Mexico City (which is 1,500 metres higher in altitude), Interlagos is a track of extremes. The first and third sectors require a low-drag car for the long straights, but the middle sector is twisty, requiring high downforce.

The second DRS zone means more focus is typically on higher downforce for the ultimate fastest lap, but a balance still needs to be found with being competitive on the straights during the race.

There is 1.2 kilometres of driving at full throttle between the exit of Turn 12 and the braking zone for Turn 1, with an elevation change of 33 metres - as is so often the case, think Eau Rouge, the images on TV really don't do the gradient justice.

The biggest difference in elevation is from the start/finish straight to Turn 4 where there is a 40-metre drop in elevation. The uphill grid requires the drivers to find the balance between holding the car on the brakes as gently as possible, without rolling backwards.

With long straights and a second DRS zone, Interlagos is one of the best tracks of the season for overtaking. However, it can be difficult for the defending car to manage its battery, as there aren't many big braking zones to recover energy.

This weekend's Grand Prix marks the third and final Sprint of the season, following on from Imola and Austria, and while track temperatures can reach some of the hottest of the season, thunderstorms are common around this time of year, and widely predicted for the coming weekend.

Though both championships are now decided, in favour of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, Mercedes could yet leapfrog Ferrari in the constructors' standings, whilst Alpine and McLaren are still battling for fourth.

As if that wasn't enough, there is a four-way fight for sixth involving Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Haas and AlphaTauri, and what with this likely to be one of those weekends where the Weather Gods help spring a surprise, and a Sprint weekend to boot, who knows how this is going to end up.

In the driver standings, the runner-up spot is between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, while George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz are scrapping for fourth.

Though, other than Fittipaldi, Piquet and Senna, Brazil does not have the long history in F1 that, say, Britain and Italy has enjoyed, the fans are equally passionate, and very much appreciative of great performers.

Here's hoping that Lewis and his colleagues can give them something to really cheer about this weekend.

According to Betway, the latest odds are... Verstappen is 1.50 to win, Hamilton 6.50, Leclerc 7.00, Russell 13.00 and Perez 13.00.

Red Bull is 1.33 to win, Mercedes 5.00 and Ferrari 5.50.