I can handle the pressure, says Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is counting on all his years of experience to make the difference in his neck-and-neck Formula One title battle with Renault's Fernando Alonso.

"I've been in this situation for many, many years so I know pretty much how to handle it," the Ferrari driver said.

"It's not the first time... so let's hope it works out."

Schumacher has won two of his seven titles at Suzuka, in 2000 when it was also the penultimate race, and in 2003 when it was the season's finale.

But the most successful driver in the history of the sport, with 91 wins from 248 starts, also lost out to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen at the circuit in 1998.

While the 37-year-old, who is retiring at the end of the season, sounded confident, others have questioned his ability to perform under pressure.

Renault's engineering head Pat Symonds, who guided Schumacher to his first two titles with Benetton, said before last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix that he believed Alonso was a calmer character.

"I truly do believe that Fernando handles pressure better than Michael," he said. "Throughout his career, there have been many instances of Michael not performing to his potential when he has been under pressure.

"Previously, he always had the safety net of trying again next year, if he didn't win. There is no next year for him now."

Schumacher is ahead of Alonso 7-6 on race victories, meaning that he will take the title tomorrow if he wins and the young Spaniard fails to score, but he brushed that advantage aside.

"It doesn't really matter to be first and in this position, although it's nice, but with two races to go it's obviously important to be there at the end both for the drivers' and constructors' championships," said Schumacher.

"This track is one of my favourites. We come here with a lot of motivation and a lot of good feeling because we believe this track probably might be better for us than China was," added the German, whose last race will be the October 22 season-ender in Brazil.