Massa: I'll race fairly in F1 title decider

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Felipe Massa has dismissed suggestions he could attempt to win the Formula One world championship by knocking rival Lewis Hamilton off the track.

Brazil's Massa trails Hamilton by seven points going to his home race in Sao Paulo, needing to win in his Ferrari and for the McLaren man to finish sixth or lower to claim his first world title.

Ex-McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Hamilton to steer well clear of Massa during Sunday's race, telling Autosport.com: "If I was Lewis, I wouldn't be anywhere close to him."

And former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has suggested that Massa might indulge in the sort of wheel-banging that has decided a number of previous championships.

Jordan, who ran his eponymous team from 1991-2005, is partly basing his views on seeing Massa hit Hamilton in the Japanese Grand Prix, which ruined the Englishman's race.

"People may not like me for saying this, but if Massa tries to take him out as he did in Japan in order to steal the title, then Lewis has to be ready for it," said Jordan. Read more about F1 at The Circuit.

"If he tries that on, then Lewis has to turn his wheel into Massa to ensure he does not finish the race either -- he has to take his wheel off."

Massa denied the move at Fuji was deliberate, although Hamilton saw it differently.

A non-finish for Hamilton in Brazil would still leave Massa needing to finish second to claim the title.

Regardless, Massa is determined to play by the rules as he goes looking to become Brazil's first world champion since Ayrton Senna won the last of his three titles in 1991.

"Playing dirty has never been part of my game," the former Sauber driver told the UK's Press Association.

"I don't want anything to do with it. The only thing on my mind is winning the race. The rest does not depend on me.

"If I'm champion, it will be a dream come true. If not, that's OK. I will try again next year."

F1 has had a history of drivers settling titles by colliding with their opponent, often leaving the public to decide whether the move was legal or not.

Massa's hero Senna drove into his rival Alain Prost at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix to become champion, in a move many saw as retribution for the Frenchman doing the same to him the year before.

And titles were decided when Michael Schumacher was involved in controversial final-race accidents with Damon Hill in 1994 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

Check out The Circuit's rundown of the best final-race title deciders of the last 15 years.