SAO PAULO, Oct 18 - The chequered flag comes down on the greatest Formula One career of all on Sunday with Michael Schumacher chasing one last win and, just possibly, an unprecedented eighth title.

The Ferrari ace, signing off with a string of records that may never be bettered, will fire up his engines for a final showdown with Renault's Fernando Alonso in the Brazilian season-ender.

If Schumacher wins at Interlagos and Alonso fails to score, as happened at Monza in Italy last month, the 37-year-old German will take the title with him into retirement.

Otherwise, his Spanish rival will retain the crown he won in Brazil last year to become the sport's youngest champion at the age of 24.

The odds favour Alonso, with the Spaniard needing just a point while Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella takes on Schumacher for the race victory, but the last few races have been full of surprises.

"I don't think it is over at all," Alonso said this week, looking forward to what will be his final race for Renault before switching to McLaren in 2007.

"Until the final lap, when you know you are champion, anything can still happen and we are taking nothing for granted," he added.

"I think our aim has to be to do a normal weekend, to get the maximum from the car without any big risks and to finish the job. If we have our usual performance, fighting at the front, then we will achieve our targets."

SCHUMACHER HOPEFUL

Ferrari lag Renault by nine points in the constructors' standings and Schumacher, who declared an end to his own title hopes after being sidelined by an engine failure while leading the last race in Japan, wants to make that championship his farewell gift to the team.

To do that, he needs to go for broke.

"We are aiming for a one-two, nothing less," the winner of a record 91 grands prix said on the Ferrari website. "This is the only hope we have of taking the constructors' title and it is all we can do."

"Naturally I am aware of the fact that, after almost 16 years, this is my last race," he added. "I hope that it will be an exciting race, that way I will take with me the marvellous feeling that only a win can bring."

Schumacher, whose team mate Felipe Massa will be racing on home territory, is not the only one looking to go out with a victory.

Sunday's race represents the last chance for Kimi Raikkonen, whose McLaren team are facing their first season in a decade without a victory, to win before he joins Ferrari next season as Schumacher's replacement.

It could also be team mate Pedro de la Rosa's final appearance if McLaren opt to partner Alonso with young Briton Lewis Hamilton next season.

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