Ferrari's Michael Schumacher can win a record sixth Formula One championship at Indianapolis on Sunday if circumstances go his way.
The following details the scenarios that would secure the title for the German (Schumacher has 82 points, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya 79 and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen 75.)
The top eight finishers score in Formula One with a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system.
1. Schumacher wins, Montoya finishes sixth or lower and Raikkonen no higher than third. That would leave Schumacher with 92 points, Montoya with 82 at best and Raikkonen 81.
Even if Montoya won the final round in Japan and Schumacher failed to score, the Ferrari driver would still win on number of victories -- six to Montoya's three (Schumacher currently has five and Montoya two).
2. Schumacher finishes second, Montoya is no higher than eighth and Raikkonen fourth or lower. Schumacher would then have 90 points, Montoya and Raikkonen at best 80 each. Even if Montoya or Raikkonen won the last race and Schumacher did not score, the German would triumph on number of wins.
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On current form however, the title looks like going down to the final race in Japan.
Montoya has finished the last eight races on the podium while Schumacher's last win at Monza followed a five-race losing streak.
There have been two occasions this year when Schumacher has won and Montoya finished sixth or lower:
San Marino - Schumacher first, Montoya seventh.
Austria - Schumacher first, Montoya retired.
But in both those races Raikkonen finished second.
Schumacher has yet to finish a race as runner-up this year and Ferrari have yet to take a one-two result in 2003.
