He had the worst year of his Formula One career, and yet Michael Schumacher still finished third in the World Championship. In so doing, he scored more points than the teammates of the two title contenders, as well as the rest of the field.
Of course, the 10 points he was gifted in the United States Grand Prix improved the situation somewhat, and without them he would have dropped behind both Juan Pablo Montoya and Giancarlo Fisichella in the final reckoning. It's true that the chances are that Michael would in any case have scored something at Indy, but so, probably, would they.
Nevertheless, the fact that even in such a disastrous season he still amassed a respectable total says a great deal about the German's ability to make the most out of a given situation. Even with a tyre disadvantage, Schumacher (and Ferrari) beat Toyota, BAR and Williams as well as half of McLaren and Renault. Having said that, seven points in the last six races was a pretty poor way to end the season, and perhaps reflected the fact that the real effort was being put into 2006.
He had a few clunkers, notably in China, and probably became involved in more incidents than the last three or four seasons put together, mainly because he was not in his familiar position of being out front and out of trouble.