Today is the day that Lewis Hamilton can take the world championship in his McLaren. Last year, he fell at the final hurdle, losing the championship to Kimi Raikonnen and his Ferrari. This year, he is up against Felipe Massa.

All Hamilton needs to do is finish fifth, and the championship is his – even if Massa wins. If he manages this, at 23 the will become the youngest Formula 1 world champion ever – and in only his second season as a driver as well.

But it all hangs on today’s race. Hamilton is starting in a surprisingly low fourth on the grid, with Massa in pole. But the worst bit is that Raikonnen, Massa’s team mate, is also ahead of Hamilton in third which gives him a chance of holding Hamilton back whilst Massa gets away.

Hamilton needs to get in front of Raikonnen at the start, even though a fourth place would guarantee him the world championship. Let’s just hope that Raikonnen doesn’t try to pull a Schumacher on Hamilton to give Massa the title.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens when the race starts at 5pm – and hope that Hamilton can pull it off.

In other F1 news: David Coulthard is to retire after today’s race, ending his driving career. However, he is expected to be joining the BBC’s live coverage team for next year.