It promises to be a classic in Brazil this weekend as the Formula One season comes to a nerve-wracking conclusion. Anyone with even a passing interest in the sport will be making a date to sit down in front of the TV and watch events unfold.
Gripping as it may be, the destination of this year's title is not as important as the future (or lack of it) of the pinnacle of motorsport. While most of the spotlight in the past week and a half has been on the showdown in Sao Paulo, the FIA and the teams have started wrestling over the way to keep F1 on track in the years to come. This story is way more important to the fans of the sport than anything that happens this weekend.
Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, the sport's governing body, has issued the starkest of warnings that crisis could envelop Formula One. Like most crises in the world at the moment it's all to do with money. Like the meltdown of the financial systems, this has been brewing for a while but has only come to a head in the last couple of weeks.
Mosley's message is certainly of it's time. He believes that F1 is living beyond its means. The money the teams spend way outstrips the income it gets from the FIA in prize money, broadcast rights and the like. As a result the teams have to rely on money from outside.
For many that means the parent manufacturer such as Toyota and Honda. For others it's rich benefactors, wealthy enthusiasts willing to invest heavily like Vijay Mallya of Force India and Dietrich Mateschitz with his Red Bull fortune. But with the world seemingly headed into recession, how much longer will this funding be available?
That's what's taxing Max. He fears that enough teams could disappear from the grid to make the sport unviable. After all, there are already four places empty on the grid at the moment and he wonders whether the fate of Super Aguri could be replicated several times over.
Something has to be done, but what? Initially the mood music between the FIA and the newly formed Fota, which represents the teams, wasn't great. Mosley spoke of a standard engine and transmission to cut costs. Understandably the teams weren't too thrilled with that idea. One of the shining principles of F1 is that the best and the brightest get to push technological boundaries. It's one of the things that set it apart from - and above - other racing series.