Schumacher: it was a Tough Season

There is no hiding the fact that Michael Schumacher has dominated Formula One this season, but he still claimed that things have been tough despite constant record-breaking performances.

Schumacher sealed his fourth world title in Hungary four races ago, and he signed off the season with an impressive victory and a controlled performance in the final race in Japan.

Victory at Suzuka ensured more records tumbled in a season which had seen him already top the table of career Grands Prix wins and also take a new record for the number of points scored in a season.

Schumacher won this year's Championship by a massive 58 points from McLaren's David Coulthard, but he denied the season was as easy as it looked.

"It was a tough championship," said Schumacher. "We had an easy run in the first two races but after that the races we won we had to fight hard for. It has been unfortunate for David with a few mechanical failures and even now it was a fight."

Schumacher thwarted the Williams challenge from Juan Pablo Montoya in Japan on Sunday to win and cited his quick-fire start as key to the triumph.

"We had probably the advantage that we were fast in the first couple of laps and the others struggled in the beginning," he added.