No room for Ferrari team orders

"Michael was in a league of his own and just drove away," Barrichello said. "I was never as happy with the balance of the car. I chose a different tyre to Michael and this time it was the wrong choice. It would have been too much to ask for us to swap places. He deserved to win."

The symmetry of course was neat, Schumacher claiming a record 10th win in a single season at his favourite circuit on the 10th anniversary of his first Grand Prix win at the same track. As well as that, Barrichello ran second all race with his championship rivals behind him and now enjoys a seven point advantage over Juan Pablo Montoya in the championship table.

"I will keep pushing," Montoya said. "When Rubens fails we have to be there."

Monza is next and is likely to be another Ferrari celebration at home in front of the adoring tifosi.

"Last year [in the immediate aftermath of September 11th] was perhaps the one race where I have not performed to my maximum potential and given my all for reasons that were personal to me," the champion said at Spa.

"This time we will be going flat-out to give the tifosi a win but after the season we have been having it would be arrogant to ask for too much. I think Williams-BMW could be very strong there."

Asked whether he would defer to Barrichello now that another record was safely in the bag, Schumacher smiled: "Wait and see..."