With this being his fifth title he has now equalled the record of Fangio, however the German refused to be drawn into making any comparisons between himself and the Argentine driver.

"What Fangio did in his time is not comparable to what we do," Schumacher said. "The effort he put in at the time was probably quite a lot more being a driver than these days, with the people around you when you have a whole team. It is not appropriate to compare these things from my point of view.”

Schumacher admitted that he was not really expecting the title to be won this weekend and was relaxed about the prospect of taking the title to the next race in Germany, but after the race got going he began to realise that it was there for the taking today.

"I was very relaxed all week because I somehow felt that it was not going to happen here. Then I saw Rubens Barrichello go out, and saw how much speed we had compared to Montoya and I started to believe in it. Suddenly when I was leading, feeling that was going to be the championship, it was the worst five laps I had in my career. That was because the weight was on my shoulders and the pressure was not to do a mistake, not do anything wrong.”

It was with genuine emotion that Michael paid tribute to the Ferrari team and all those who have worked hard and long to ensure that this season was another successful campaign for the whole team.

"I am just so glad we have achieved this together with a tremendous team. You just can love and admire them for the effort they put in," he said.