Ross Brawn

Apart from a brief separation in 1996, Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn have been partners since the early days of the German's F1 career at Benetton. As such the Briton has had a hand in each of Michael's seven world titles, and can claim more than a little credit for that incredible record.

The pair know each other inside out, and there is a high level of mutual respect within their partnership.

"It's obviously a fantastic achievement, seven World Championships," said Brawn after the flag in Spa. "It's unbelievable. In some ways it was a disappointing race, because we didn't win, and I thought potentially we had a strong car. That's taking nothing away from Kimi, he did a fantastic job, and he used the circumstances and used the situation to win the race. But second and third was OK.

"Michael's performance this year has been exceptional. This has probably been his quietest race of the year, and he finished second. He has not had a bad race this year, and not put a foot wrong. We've used the analogy before, but he's maturing nicely, like a good red wine!"

Ross says his man was more motivated than ever at the start of this year.

"We obviously spend a lot of time together, and Michael is as driven, as ambitious, and as forceful as he ever has been. It's that maturity mixed with the raw enthusiasm. I think going into Australia he knew the work we'd been able to do over the winter, he knew what the new car was like, he knew he had the tools to do the job.

"That revitalises a driver. There's nothing worse than going racing with a car which is not really up to it. We saw that with Mika Hakkinen in his last year. Without the equipment it can be difficult for a driver, especially a driver that's used to doing so well. We've been able to produce a car, and when Michael knows he's got a good car, it's a massive boost to the enthusiasm."

Brawn was not surprised by the winning pace of Kimi Raikkonen. The confused qualifying procedure disguised the McLaren star's true potential, but Ross noted in our Saturday Night Fever column that he felt Kimi should have been the biggest threat.

"We saw on Friday that Kimi was very quick. I think we had a good strategy for the race that we didn't really use, because of the safety cars. Nothing really came towards us in the race. I'm not complaining, because Kimi drove a fantastic race today, but nothing really worked in our favour for Michael. I have to say for Rubens it worked a lot, because obviously after being hit from behind at the beginning he was able to come back to third place partly as a result of the safety cars."

It's not quite true to say that Schumacher had no luck, because the second safety car saw Raikkonen's handy lead evaporate. But the biggest surprise was Michael's performance in the early stages. Uncharacteristically he found himself slipping down the order; it was a combination of tyre performance and the familiar 'nearly got the title' nerves - if that's the right word - that we've seen in the past.

"I think he was cautious. We knew we had a lot of fuel on board, and we expected the others to stop before us, which they did. But to win the championship today, he had to beat Rubens, and that was his priority. He was having a quiet race!

"Our tyres are very, very strong, but they take a while to reach temperature. During that period it's tricky, because the fronts and rears come up to temperature at different times. So it's not an easy thing, especially with such a long safety car. The tyres hadn't really got up to temperature after the start anyway, so it was the worst case for us. The trouble was that we had that period of four or five laps after the safety car where we're very vulnerable. If you look at the first stint, that was the case."

Later Michael's chances were not helped when Raikkonen cleverly slowed down the field behind the safety car before the restart. It's a tactic that has often been used by Michelin runners this year - for example Jarno Trulli at Monaco - in order to hamper Bridgestone runners by not allowing them to get heat into their tyres. Brawn says the strategy didn't frustrate Schumacher too much.

"Not really. His priority was to finish in front of Rubens, so he wasn't frustrated. He didn't comment to me, so I don't think it was a big issue. Every driver has to work to his advantages and try and lessen his disadvantages, so it's a perfectly valid tactic."

Meanwhile, Barrichello's race was pretty impressive. After being hit from behind at the start he was able to use two stops during the safety car interlude to effect repairs, although he still didn't catch the queue for the restart. The later safety cars, and the high attrition rate, played into his hands.

"He got hit by Webber going into La Source. Rubens made a great start and Webber just came down the inside and hit him. He said he had a puncture, so we changed the tyre, but then the mechanics reported that the rear wing was broken. So we had to bring him back in again."

So did the team know it was broken when they sent him back out again?

"No. The mechanics couldn't stop the car going out. They fitted the tyres and the car was going when they saw there was a problem with the rear wing, so it was too late.

"He did a great job, considering his problems. He did a wonderful job. The shunt in the first corner wasn't his fault. The mechanics did a great job of changing the wing under the safety car, so we didn't lose a lap. I think second and third was something we should be proud of!"

Brawn says Ferrari wasn't compromised by wet settings from qualifying or the loss of dry running on Saturday: "No, we were OK. I think we ran the race we needed to..."