Having Interlagos coming hot on the heels of Suzuka is almost like trying to eat two chocolate cakes in one go. But they are very different types of cake: in Japan, everything is neatly sliced and beautifully presented and in Brazil, it’s just a tasty mess of cacao and cream served in your hand.

And this year, there is a really special buzz to the place, given that Rubens Barrichello is in the running for the championship and that Felipe Massa made his first public appearance since his Hungary accident and has an important job to do: waving the chequered flag at the end of the race.

If Rubinho wins on Sunday, the fans will probably pull the Interlagos circuit to the ground. That isn’t saying much, as a lot of it is nearly falling down already.

But one element is just fantastic and that’s this short little track that follows the contours of the land between two lakes, hence the name Interlagos. It’s the fans here who really make the race weekend as they are the most enthusiastic on the calendar, making the Ferrari tifosi look like kindergarten kids, so vocal and fierce is their support for any local driver.

Go down to the grid for the race start and the grandstand is so close to the track, you feel as though the slightest provocation and the fans would be on the grid with you. When Ayrton Senna was racing and last year with Massa, the atmosphere and noise would really make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

The crowd is very good natured, but somehow they are a bit quieter than the days when we raced in Rio. There, entire Samba Bands would come into the stands, playing music loud enough to drown out the engine noise. They were all well lubricated with huge plastic containers of beer, which would be passed along each row, so that everyone got a drink.

It may be best not to go into details about how they got rid of all this drink, but it involved passing the now empty jugs back down the line to be filled with something the same colour as beer.

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