Despite the twisty and treacherous Suzuka circuit looming, the perils cannot seem that great for Sebastian Vettel, who is as close as can be to capturing a second Formula One title.

When he does, his name will join a list of legends, ones who claimed their first two championships in consecutive fashion. Only six drivers in F1 history have done so prior to Vettel, the last being Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.

Both Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen claimed their first two titles back-to-back in the 1990s, while Alain Prost did so in the 1980s.

Before that, no one had accomplished the feat since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960. Ferrari's first champion, Alberto Ascari, also won his first titles consecutively.

Vettel will have his work cut out for him next season, however, as none of those six drivers went on to win a third straight title the very next season. Ascari drove only a partial season in his pursuit of a third championship, while Brabham retired from six of eight events in 1961 in his Cooper.

In more recent times, Prost and McLaren were no match for a dominant Williams team in 1987, and he finished a distant fourth in the drivers' championship.

As for Schumacher, his case was an unusual one. After winning two straight titles with Benetton, he jumped to Ferrari in 1996. He made the most of an underperforming car, but much like Prost years earlier, could not match the pace of Williams.

In 2000, Hakkinen, pursuing a third-straight championship, provided a sizeable challenge to Schumacher, but in the end Ferrari proved victorious with a race to spare.

The man who came closest to accomplishing the feat was Alonso in 2007, finishing just one point adrift of champion Kimi Raikkonen.

As for the task at hand, there's little reason to think Vettel will not earn his third straight win at Suzuka. He's won three straight races overall, and a fourth would mark a single-season career high.

This track, while normally cruel toward others, has been kind to Vettel, as the past two years indicate. In 2009, Vettel was looking to stay in the title chase when he arrived at Suzuka, and he did just that thanks to a win coupled with a poor finish from Jenson Button.

Although he did not go on to win the championship, it was certainly a favorable outcome.

A 10th win this season would also make Vettel just the second man, along with Schumacher, to notch double-digit wins in a calendar year.

If he posts victories in each of the remaining five events, he'll own the single-season record. While a tough order, it's certainly not impossible.

The circuit this weekend is a unique challenge.

"Suzuka is one of the drivers' favorite tracks on the calendar and it's easy to understand why," Virgin team principal John Booth told reporters. "It's a very challenging and technical circuit with frequent directional changes.

"Two critical points are the S-turns, a flowing combination of five corners where it is important to get the entry right; and the Spoon Curve, a double left taken as one, where it is crucial to find the perfect line and carry momentum into the following straight."

Formula One's first trip to Japan since the devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this year will be significant, especially considering Sauber pilot Kamui Kobayashi calls this land home.

Suzuka has hosted 22 grands prix, and has seen a world champion crowned in 10 of those, the most recent of which came in 2003. While it has the benefit of being late in the calendar each year, it has only been the final race on the schedule six times, so the clinching rate here over other tracks is particularly interesting.