Now all Schumacher had to do was to finish the next race in Japan in first place to win him of the world title. And that's exactly what he did. He took pole position, but Hakkinen was leading as the cars left the start grid. It looked as though the 2000 season would go down to the wire, to the final race of the season as it has done for several years now. If Michael was to win the race, he had to rely on his pit-crew to get him out of the pits quicker than the McLaren mechanics did with Hakkinen. The mechanics didn't let him down. His second pit stop got him out ahead of the McLaren of Hakkinen and leading the race. Schumacher finished first, Michael Schumacher was world champion.

Michael decided to take a weeklong holiday with his wife before the final race in Malaysia and the rest must have helped him to win the Malaysian Grand Prix, to retain the constructors title for Ferrari, which they won a year ago.

This was Ferrari's year. 21 years is a long time to wait for a driver's title but hopefully this will be the turning point of a new era for the Scuderia Ferrari team. Schumacher deserved the title; he won more races than Mika Hakkinen and Ferrari were more reliable than McLaren. Michael would have won the title last year if it were not for the crash at Silverstone, so this title was well deserved. Not only does he have the title of world champion, he has now won more Grand Prix than the legend that is Ayrton Senna and is only second to the great Alain Prost. Senna won 41, Prost 51 and Schumacher now has a tally of 44, and still has time to catch and perhaps pass Prost's.

Can Michael take title number 4 in 2001? Who knows? My bet certainly is with him!