Analysis: Schumacher Still Capable of Surprising Himself

Michael Schumacher may be the only man left in the Formula One paddock who is still amazed when he wins.

The real surprise is that anyone else comes close to Ferrari's race ace.

No matter what the circumstances, it seems the sight of the six-times World Champion standing on top of the podium has become as much a part of the proceedings as champagne celebrations and the chequered flag.

Sunday's British Grand Prix win was the German's 10th in 11 races this season, the 80th of a record-breaking career and fifth in a row.

To put it into perspective, Schumacher has already scored more points than he did in all of last season and there are still seven races remaining.

He has won 29 races more than any other driver in the history of Formula One and 67 more than the next most successful active driver, Briton David Coulthard.

In broader terms, Schumacher has been first in more than a third of the races (205) he has started. The 21st century has yet to see another champion.

No Formula One driver has ever enjoyed a season like this one, the 'Red Baron' standing just one win away from his own record of 11 in a season that he racked up in 2002.

Yet despite all that, Schumacher is still surprised - surprised by his own achievements, by those of his team and the lack of opposition despite all the pre-season talk that Ferrari's era of domination was coming to an end.

Raikkonen Challenge

"Obviously I was amazed at how the race went," he said at Silverstone after a race that he would have romped away with had the safety car not intervened and allowed McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to fight back 15 laps from the end.

Raikkonen was the man who took Schumacher down to the wire last season but the chances of that happening to the German this year are almost non-existent. Ferrari have learned their lesson.

"It is unbelievable what has happened to me this year, to the team," said Schumacher. "I think it just pays back for all the hard work everyone has done in the factory. We never have let off.

"We learned our lesson from last year when maybe we took it a little bit easy at some stage and we came back just at the right time. And because everyone felt the pain of this nobody really wanted to be back in this pain and everyone kept pushing.

"When you see how hungry the guys are it is just fantastic, each one sort of pushes the other one and it is just an on-going thing. I am so proud to be in the team and be able to live in that phase of Ferrari."

It is a 'phase' that some thought was waning after Schumacher laboured to his sixth title last year. Now 35, and with 24-year-old Raikkonen snapping at his heels, this year was supposed to see a changing of the guard.

It has not happened, but Sunday did at least see a semblance of the championship everyone had predicted six months ago with Raikkonen on pole and McLaren taking their first podium finish of the year.

"If you look at the beginning of the season, in Australia I think we could have taken any strategy and we would have won," said Schumacher. "That's not possible anymore, simply because the others have picked up."