PARIS, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Intrigue in the fast lane, internecine warfare, and bitter personal rivalry between the leading actors set against the backdrop of a multimillion pound business where the line between fantasy and reality is often blurred.

This could easily have been the script for the next Hollywood blockbuster from the pen of John Grisham but was in fact the recipe served up to motor racing fans in a season that few will forget in a hurry.

The 2007 campaign may have left McLaren boss Ron Dennis with a few less hairs but no one can deny that all the drama on and off the track has injected much needed life into a sport that can act as an antidote to even the most acute case of insomnia.

He could never have realised it at the time but when Ferrari´s sacked mechanic Nigel Stepney put the stamps on that infamous 780-page dossier and popped it in the post to his mate Mike Coughlan over at McLaren he did the sport a huge service.

At least for the impartial armchair observer for in that treasonable act Stepney set off a chain of events that has kept F1 fans gripped to their seats throughout this turbulent but fascinating season.

A season that draws to a close this Sunday in Interlagos where Lewis Hamilton is in a three-way fight to crown a remarkable debut year by clinching the drivers´ title.

The ´X´ factor is something the entertainment industry craves but it has been the ´H´ factor in the shape of the brilliant young Briton that has brought the sport a wave of new fans in 2007.

From his third place in his first ever grand prix back in Melbourne in March Hamilton has confounded convention and driven with the skill, verve and nerve of a Fangio or Schumacher. In so doing he´s shredded the F1 record books.

In Australia he produced the best finish by an Englishman in his debut race since 1966, in Spain he became the youngest driver to lead a championship and if everything goes his way in Interlagos he´ll become the first driver to win the championship in his rookie season.

The fact that he is also the first driver of Afro-Caribbean descent to race in Formula One let alone score any points or win four races is now a mere footnote on his cv.

Hamilton´s achievement is all the more noteworthy given he´s had to get on with the job of driving his car faster than his pitlane rivals with various storms swirling around his broad shoulders.

Spygate at one stage looked dangerously close to wreck his title bid when McLaren were found guilty of possessing data from Ferrari.

In the end the sport´s governing body the FIA chose to strip McLaren of their constructors´ points and impose a record one million dollar fine rather than penalising Hamilton and his teammate Fernando Alonso.

He´s also had to contend with the complete meltdown in his relationship with double world champion Alonso.

Given the bitter rivalry that has developed between the two McLaren drivers it seems light years ago that Hamilton expressed his excitement at having Alonso for a teammate.

"I look at having Fernando Alonso as my team-mate as a positive. I can only learn from him," he said before the fireworks started.

Alonso, who along with Ferrari´s Kimi Raikkonen can still win the title in Brazil, has fallen out big time with McLaren and Hamilton over his treatment at the British team since switching from Renault.

As world champion he expected to be treated as number one and has become increasingly irritated at what he perceives to be McLaren´s favouritism towards Hamilton.

His persistent complaining has prompted the FIA to send one of their men to Interlagos this weekend to spy on McLaren´s team strategy to ensure their stated race equality programme is all its cracked up to be.

Sunday promises to be a fitting climax to this tightest finish to a world championship season since 1986.