After 21 years of hurt for the Ferrari faithful, Formula one star Michael Schumacher became the first Ferrari driver to win the drivers world title since Jody Scheckter did so in 1979.

The brilliant German, claiming his third drivers title in formula 1, showed how stronger he has become since breaking his leg in the crash at the 1999 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After the crash, many of his doubters thought he would not be returning to the sport. But Schumacher showed this season that he deserves the title as one of the greatest drivers ever to grace the sport.

Schumacher won his first drivers title in 1994 and then again in 1995, both with the Benetton team. Now with his third title under his belt, he joins an elite band of drivers to win three or more world titles along with the legends that are Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Alain Prost.

Last year Mika Hakkinen won his second consecutive title in not-so-convincing a style. He merely won as a result of a number of errors made by the Ferrari team, including the comic error of a tyre going missing, just as Eddie Irvine made a crucial pit-stop as he challenged for the title.

After the disappointment of losing the title race and seeing their number one driver miss most of the season, Ferrari went back to their home at Maranello in Italy and spent day after day of the winter break to correct any errors they had once made. They grew stronger as a team and with Schumacher in the best fitness of his life, returning from the broken leg sustained at the British Grand Prix, Ferrari expected nothing more than to win their first title since 1979. Schumacher failed to disappoint. From the first race of the season in Melbourne, Australia, he led home a Ferrari 1 ??in the race, with new teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing in second place. But where was last seasons champion Hakkinen? The answer is he failed to finish the race.

That was just the start of Schumacher's season of glory. He won the first three races of the season, scoring a total of 30 points out of 30 to Hakkinen's measly 6 points, gained as he came in second to Schumacher at the third race in San Marino. It was all running smoothly for Schumacher with 56 points out of a possible 80 to Hakkinen's 32. This was until the season hit its half way mark and Schumacher failed to finish in three consecutive races (France, Austria and Germany), two of which he even failed to get past the first corner of the race, as accidents caused by other drivers took him off the circuit. A downhearted Schumacher was left watching by the side of the racetrack as he saw his title rival Hakkinen cut his lead in the drivers table down to just two points by winning twice and coming in second, gaining 26 points on Michael.

But one thing Shumacher is well known for is that he never gives in. Since joining Ferrari in 1996, he has been one of the main title contenders but has always faltered towards the end of the season, watching other drivers take the title when he knew it should have been him. Love him or loathe him, you have to give the guy credit for his determination to win and his amazing ability to get back on track when everything seems to falter around him. Once again he showed this season his ability to pick up the pieces when results go against him.

As the Formula one road show rolled in to Hungary, Schumacher had to finish the race in the points and hopefully ahead of Hakkinen. He managed to finish is second place but Hakkinen finished in first. This meant that for the first time this season Shumacher lost his lead in the driver?able as Hakkinen took the lead. The result was the same in the following race in Belgium, as once again it looked as though the Ferrari jinx was to strike again.

Michael looked as though he had the race won, but in the closing laps a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre by Hakkinen lost him the race. Michael was approaching a back marker and went to pass him around the outside, but Hakkinen gained some speed through the turbulent air of the Ferrari and amazingly passed both Schumacher and the back marker, going up the inside of the track to take a well earned lead.

Now Schumacher was left chasing the title for the first time this season and with just four Grand Prix left in 2000, it was crucial for him to win the next race in Ferrari country, Monza in Italy. Two years ago Schumacher lead home a brilliant 1 - 2 in Ferrari's home race at Monza, with his then Ferrari side kick Eddie Irvine behind him. Michael had won this race before and knew he could do it again. He never let the Tifosi down. He took pole position in qualifying and superbly won the race, this time with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen behind him.

Once again the emotions were flooding at Monza. How could any Formula one fan forget seeing Mika Hakkinen crying in the Monza bushes at last years Italian Grand Prix, after a lapse of concentration caused him to skid across the track and out of the race when he was clearly leading. This time it was tears of victory for Schumacher as he broke down in the post-race press conference, many Ferrari fans must have been crying with him. Mika Hakkinen's lead was now cut down to just two points as he had 80 points to Michael's 78. Now with everything to play for, the Formula 1 world championship returned to the US after a 40-year absence, to what is one of the most famous racing circuits in the world, Indy.

Michael led his way back to the top of the championship after a spectacular race at the famous Indy circuit. He lead his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello to a victorious 1 - 2, after an exciting race. McLaren's David Coulthard took the lead at the start of the race. But his race was far from over. He rolled on the start grid and was made to take a 10-second stop-go-penalty, which ended his chances of winning the race. This left Michael Schumacher leading, with title rival Mika Hakkinen in pursuit.

But just as the championship leader looked as though he was catching the scarlet Ferrari, the engine of the silver McLaren blew leaving the way for Barrichello and Jordan star Heinz-Harald Frentzen to battle out for second and third place. Towards the end of the race it looked like Schumacher had lost his concentration, as the Ferrari went over a curb and on to the grass. But he rejoined the racetrack, still in first place, with a 12-second gap between him and team mate Barrichello.