Only the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, the only man to win the greatest prize in motorsport five times, now stands between the Schumacher and the prospect of becoming the greatest driver there has ever been.

This was also the quickest a driver had clinched the title since Nigel Mansell did likewise at the Hungaroring in 1992, with Schumacher adding this latest crown to the one with Ferrari last year and his previous back-to-back successes with Benetton in 1994 and 1995.

For Ferrari, with Barrichello coming home second to complete a stunning one-two, the Maranello outfit celebrated their third constructors’ championship as they now have a 68-point lead with only 64 on the table.

All in all, it was the perfect weekend for the team and the 32-year-old German, who now has an unassailable 43-point lead in the drivers’ championship over McLaren’s David Coulthard with just four races remaining.

Schumacher was dominant in the race, just as he had been all weekend as he led the way in all but the final practice session, while in qualifying he blew away the rest of the field.

His time of one minute 14.059 seconds was a new qualifying record in the 16 years the race has been at the 2.47-mile track, leaving Coulthard more than eight-tenths adrift in second.

Coulthard’s only hope of taking the championship onto the next race in Belgium was to beat Schumacher into turn one, but those hopes were dashed within seconds of the five red lights disappearing to signal the start.

The 30-year-old Scot dropped to third as Schumacher was followed into the first bend by Barrichello, and from that point the thousands watching at the track on the outskirts of Budapest and the millions on television around the world knew what the outcome would be.

Only mechanical failure could deny Schumacher, but that was not to be for what followed was a procession, just as the season has been for the indomitable, unflappable figure of the modern racing era.

Remarkably, Schumacher had cracked a turning vane relating to the aerodynamics of his car on his initial outlap, which forced the Ferrari mechanics into a quick change on the grid ahead of the formation lap.

The German had gone off the circuit at turn 12, ploughing through the gravel and causing consternation on the faces of those that watched and so resulting in the damage, but it proved to be a minor blip on an otherwise stunning performance.

1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h41m49.675s

2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari +3.363s

3 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes +3.940s

4 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW +49.687s

5 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes +1m10.293s

6 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas +1 lap

7 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas +1 lap

8 MONTOYA Williams BMW +1 lap

9 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda +2 laps

10 ALESI Jordan Honda +2 laps

11 DE LA ROSA Jaguar +2 laps

12 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech +3 laps

13 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault +10 laps

14 FRENTZEN Prost Acer +14 laps

15 MARQUES Minardi European +14 laps

16 PANIS BAR Honda +19 laps

17 TRULLI Jordan Honda +24 laps

18 ALONSO Minardi European +40 laps

19 BUTTON Benetton Renault +43 laps

20 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech +66 laps

21 BURTI Prost Acer +69 laps

22 IRVINE Jaguar +77 laps

Drivers with three or more world championships

5 Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentina) 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957

4 Michael Schumacher (Germany) 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001; Alain Prost (France) 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993

3 Jack Brabham (Australia) 1959, 1960, 1966; Niki Lauda (Austria) 1975, 1977, 1984; Nelson Piquet (Brazil) 1981, 1983, 1987; Ayrton Senna (Brazil) 1988, 1990, 1991; Jackie Stewart (Gbr) 1969, 1971, 1973