A great year for Schumi & Ferrari

Maranello, Italy:

Winning is like a drug and Ferrari's Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher is not about to kick the habit. The German and his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, can pat themselves on the back for the most successful year in the Italian team's history. Ferrari's gleaming new car with state of the art machinery, the F2002, could not withstand McLaren's David Coulthard in Monaco. But that was the only time the car let them down. "Well, it's obvious we had a fantastic season. We can put it down to great motivation and effort from everyone in the team," said Michael Schumacher. Clearly positive words from the man who added 11 wins to his record tally and became the first driver to triumph more than nine times in a single season. The German has now raked up more points, podiums and fastest laps than any other driver in Grand Prix history and captured the title faster than anyone else as well, wrapping it up with six races to spare this year. No Ferrari driver since the first Grand Prix in 1950 comes close to Schumacher's success with the team - his 45 wins under the sign of the prancing horse comparing to three times champion Niki Lauda's meagre haul of 15.