Schumacher: A strange way to win the title

The German, starting from 14th on the grid after rain in qualifying, had a messy race, losing his front-wing after clashing with Takuma Sato early on. He battled through the field to eighth, only to be assaulted from behind by his brother Ralf. But Schumacher came through to claim a solitary point, all he needed to do to clinch the title.

"I think it is very strange for me," admitted Schumacher, "because most of my championships I have won with a victory, and here and now, I'm winning a championship with eighth position, which is the last of the points. So, it's a mixed emotion.

"I was a little bit messy today after having a little incident. It was one of my toughest races. To come back and fight through the traffic with all that was happening, with the thing that happened with [Cristiano] Da Matta, with Ralf hitting me in the back...it was a very, very strange race. Therefore, the feeling hasn't yet sunk in. I can feel for the team, but I can't feel for myself at the moment. I'm empty, I'm exhausted. I'm just proud of what we all have achieved."

While Schumacher could not comprehend his own achievement, he was quick to praise Ferrari, which claimed a 13th Constructors' Championship along with the German's drivers' title.

"What the team has achieved, it's just fantastic. I mean, when you see what happened in Germany and in Budapest, so many people wrote us off, so many outspoken things, but here we are. We're back. We never give up. We always fight. I think that's one of the big strengths of the Ferrari team. It's just this huge big family, and we're all proud to be a part of it."