As once the case in Argentina, the success of a Formula One driver also led to the opening of a track in Brazil. Although the track was there long before his birth, it took the success of Emerson Fittipaldi to bring Formula One to it.

Set in the suburbs of San Paulo, the original track was 4.949 miles in length, one of the longest of any track used in any era. It was made up of a sweeping outer section, followed by a tight and twisty trail through the infield.

The track is very bumpy, and it takes great reflexes and skill to have control of the car in any given situation, the tight corners posing some serious problems for the speeding machines. A chicane has since been placed at the first corner, to slow the cars down.

Ayrton Senna drove his maiden race for Williams at this track. He had already achieved his dream of winning his home race in 1991 and again in horrendous conditions in 1993. Although he had hoped to win with Williams, it wasn't to be, and Michael Schumacher won the first race of his championship year. Schumacher took the win in 2000 with David Coulthard a close second only to be later disqualified for excessive underbody wear on his McLaren.

Fans will always remember the 2001 event as the then rookie Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya made a daring move on Michael Schumacher. In wet conditions the Colombian passed the Ferrari on a restart, and would surely have won the event, only the third race of his F1 career, if not for a collision with the Arrows of Jos Verstappen as the Williams driver attempted to put a lap on the Dutchman. David Coulthard went on to win the event for McLaren while Michael Schumacher was back to his winning ways in 2002.

Giancarlo Fisichella secured his very first Grand Prix victory - and Jordan's final win - in the 2003 event, despite the fact that Kimi Raikkonen was initially declared the winner in a confusing accident strewn event.

Tricky weather conditions added to the spice in 2004 with Juan Pablo Montoya coming through to take his only win of the season with BMW Williams with Kimi Raikkonen taking the second position just a second further back. Local hero Rubens Barrichello claimed the Pole Position but on race day had to be content with third position for Ferrari and his first finish at the circuit since 1994.

Montoya was mighty again in 2005 taking the win from McLaren team-mate Raikkonen while third placed Fernando Alonso did enough to wrap up his first championship success and become the sport's youngest ever World Champion.

2006 would also see Alonso take championship success at Interlagos in his Renault. The race was significant in that it was Michael Schumacher's final Grand Prix in his long and illustrious career while it was Alonso's final race with Renault. Qualifying did not go well for Schumacher as he was unable to take part in the final third part of the session due to a mechanical problem and therefore started final race from tenth position on the grid.

Felipe Massa bagged the pole in the sister Ferrari and would go on to dominate the race and record his second Grand Prix win and the first for a Brazilian since the late Ayrton Senna triumphed in 1993. Schumacher made a great start to the race only for his left rear tyre to fail just as he passed Renault rivals Giancarlo Fisichella. A slow lap to the pits and Schumacher was back out and carving his way through the field - catching and re-passing Fisichella and then making a brake move to relieve Raikkonen of fourth position. Out of laps, Schumacher had to settle for fourth on a day that we saw the German veteran bowing out at the very top of his game.

While Massa too an emotional home win, Alonso was bust celebrating his second position and his back-to-back championship success. Jenson Button brought his Honda home third.

It had been a real roller coaster of a season and the finale in Brazil was a fitting climax to the 2007 season.

Kimi Raikkonen achieved what seemed all but impossible and he overcame a seven point deficit in his Ferrari as McLaren rival hit problems. The start of the 71 lap race saw Hamilton drop from second to fourth and then compounded his problems by running off track and losing another four positions. Hamilton was still on track for title success however before his MP4-22 lost drive. While the British rookie was able to reset the electronics and continue, he had dropped to 18th.

Raikkonen shadowed team-mate Massa before getting the jump in the second round of pit stops and went on to take the win and the World Championship with 110 points, one more than Hamilton, who finished seventh, and team-mate Fernando Alonso.

The 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix will go down in history as one of the most exciting races of the modern era. Felipe Massa dominated the final race of the season from the pole position, but trailing Hamilton by seven points heading into the race, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the Ferrari star.

Rain shower ahead of the formation lap saw the start of the race delayed ten minutes and Massa promptly led away from pole position and was never seriously threatened for the race win. The rest was in the hands of Hamilton, McLaren and in the end, Toyota.

After the initial rain showers the circuit soon dried out but late in the race a second shower really threw the race for the title into confusion. With two laps to go, Hamilton ran wide and Sebastian Vettel slipped through into fifth position and at that point it was Massa who would be crowned champion. Massa took the chequered flag believing he had taken the ultimate prize.

Timo Glock, running fourth, had not pitted for wet weather tyres with the rest and on the very last lap of the race he dropped 18 seconds and critically for Hamilton, down to sixth position. Seconds later Hamilton took the chequered flag in that all-important fifth position and he was champion.