Michael Schumacher has gradually and deliberately transformed from the most exciting driver in the Formula One field to the most complete driver of his generation, and that was proved again at Sunday's French Grand Prix, where the relentless German clinched his fifth title at the first attempt. Richard Barnes reviews the weekend's event and explains why Schumacher's hunger for victories will continue undiminished

During the build-up to Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, there was a palpable feeling that, even though Ferrari's Michael Schumacher could mathematically secure the title during the race, he wouldn't extend himself unnecessarily to do so. With his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim just seven days later, and his own father choosing to skip the Magny-Cours event, it seemed Schumacher had set his sights on making history in front of his own countrymen in Germany. Yet, from the moment that teammate Rubens Barrichello was left stranded on the formation lap, there was once again the feeling of inevitability, that Schumacher's Championship rivals would somehow conspire to hand him an unexpected and effortless victory. It didn't quite turn out that way, but it did produce one of the weirdest Grand Prix weekends in recent history.

The drama started during Saturday's qualifying, with both Arrows drivers slowing during the final sector of their only hotlap attempt, deliberately failing to set a time within the 107% qualifying cut-off. It is symbolic of just how contorted F1's politics have become when a team spends millions on building the fastest car possible - then instructs its drivers to deliberately underperform.

During the opening exchanges of the race itself, the only noteworthy incident was hip-shooting Sauber rookie Felipe Massa's penalty for cutting across the pitlane exit line. That in itself wasn't unexpected, Massa is nothing if not innovative in drawing attention to himself. The eye-popping consequence was that Massa's blunder would be repeated later by three of the sport's most experienced campaigners - both Schumacher brothers and McLaren veteran David Coulthard.

With Juan Pablo Montoya slipping back beyond the podium place needed to keep the Championship chase alive for another week, that left McLaren's sophomore Kimi Raikkonen as the only obstacle between Schumacher and a Fangio-equalling fifth WDC title. The young Finn drove the race of his F1 career but, with Schumacher's Ferrari looming ever larger in his mirrors over the closing stanza, it was never going to be enough. Schumacher remains a thoroughbred racer, and the one momentary gap left by Raikkonen was all he needed for the win and Championship immortality.

If there had been any doubts about Schumacher's commitment to racing, they were dispelled comprehensively at the finish. Schumacher has never been the most exuberant driver inside the cockpit, and wouldn't dream of pulling off Jean Alesi-style doughnuts. But his celebratory tank-slapper after the chequered flag would have had Randy Mamola grinning in empathy, and spoke volumes about the German's boundless passion for racing and, more to the point, winning.

It was hard to believe Schumacher's post-race comment that the final five laps were the 'worst of my career'. They surely couldn't have been more tense than the final laps at Suzuka 2000, where Schumacher held off a threatening Mika Hakkinen to snatch a narrow WDC win and end Ferrari's 21-year drought. The comment did reinforce, though, that Schumacher cares as much about his craft as ever, and that the prospect of wrapping up victory still gets him on edge - even in a season as one-sided as this has been.

As ever, Schumacher was effusive in his praise for the team effort during the whole season. And, as ever, detractors point to outrageous good luck and questionable team tactics as major factors in the Schumacher success formula. There is a grain of truth in all of these assertions. Without Rory Byrne's bullet-proof and ultra-fast F2002, Schumacher's job would have been a lot harder. Without the iffy reliability and strategic mistakes of his main rivals, Schumacher would not have been able to reel off his relentless run of victories over the past few seasons. And without the overt support of team boss Jean Todt and teammate Rubens Barrichello in Austria, Schumacher would not have been able to wrap up the Championship in France.

There's a limit to how far good luck, great machinery and supportive team management will carry a driver, though, and that limit falls hopelessly short of 5 WDC titles, 61 GP victories, 46 pole positions, 47 fastest laps and 897 career WDC points. The number of GP kilometres which Schumacher has led the field would stretch from Sydney to New York. If he finishes this season with the same success ratio that he's had for the first 11 races, he should score at least 140 points, completely shattering his own single season record of 123 points, established last year.

In an era characterised by the shameless self-promotion of top sporting stars, Schumacher is unusually generous in attributing a large part of his success to the team that supports him. In truth, he can't indulge in any self-promotion, for that would be overkill. The figures speak louder than Schumacher's own words ever could. While statistics can never tell the full story of a driver's appeal, style or impact on the sport, the figures cannot be ignored either. Week in week out, fair weather or foul, tight twisty circuit or fast sweeping layout, perfect or flawed setup, hard or soft tyres, it all makes little difference. Whatever the circumstances, the German is not only a factor - he is the factor, and will be until he retires.

The truly remarkable aspect of Schumacher's career is not only how many Championships he's won, but how many more he could have won. For three successive years from 1997 to 1999, Schumacher missed out through a combination of bad luck, rash decisions and unreliability. It's noticeable how those failure factors have been whittled away, and largely eliminated from the equation. The Ferrari team have played their part to perfection, providing him with a car that has proved flawless for sixteen consecutive points finishes - yet another record added to the Schumacher legend.

The German has also adapted his racing approach. If he had a weakness early in his career, it was his impatience in forcing the pace, making things happen. It resulted in some jaw-dropping victories, such as the demolition of the field in the wet Spanish GP of 1996, where Schumacher set a fastest race lap more than two seconds quicker than anybody else. It also resulted in some lost opportunities - the infamous shunts with David Coulthard at Spa and Alexander Wurz at Monaco, which lost him 16 Championship points, and the title with it, in 1998.

This season particularly, Schumacher showed the patience to let races come to him. He's always been the fittest and hardest worker in the paddock, and he's now added efficiency into the mix as well. Not a single opportunity is wasted. When others fail, Schumacher is invariably the one to benefit most. He has gradually and deliberately transformed from the most exciting driver in the field to the most complete driver of his generation. That's more than just luck. It's also particularly demoralising for the opposition.

Kimi Raikkonen felt the sting on Sunday, and has every reason to be heartbroken. Over the long term, though, it was an important part of his maturing process in F1. Ayrton Senna emerged as a better F1 driver after throwing away the 1988 Monaco GP with an unforced driving error. Raikkonen, too, will benefit from adversity. On recent form, the Finn is staking a strong claim to Schumacher's crown, albeit with considerably less fuss and fanfare than Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya.

In time, they'll get their Championship chance. For the meanwhile, the two young pretenders have to figure out a way past Schumacher's implacable defences, and try to prevent the German and Ferrari from clean-sweeping the rest of the season. That won't be an easy task. Most champions could be expected to slack off after whitewashing a season. With Schumacher, it'll be business as usual.