Of the last 50 races, Schumacher and Hakkinen have won an incredible 35 of them to underline their standing as the two best drivers in the world.

Hakkinen has the edge in wins, though only just, triumphing on 18 occasions including his maiden victory in the season-ending grand prix in Spain in 1997.

The Finn has also won the drivers’ crown twice in the past three seasons but saw his hopes of a rare hat-trick dashed last year as Schumacher took the trophy back to Ferrari for the first time in 21 years.

Schumacher’s success was his third overall, though first since he completed the double with Benetton in 1995, and he will start the season as favourite.

"We have to wait until the first race to see what happens but we would expect McLaren to be our main challengers again and I am looking forward to battling with Mika again," said Schumacher.

"We have had some great races and battles in the past. It is going to be another very hard season.

"But David Coulthard certainly gave me a very tough run at quite a lot of races last year and there is also my Ferrari team-mate Rubens (Barrichello).

"I think we make a good pairing for the team and this year I expect even more pressure from him as I think he will be consistently fast."

Despite the nod to Coulthard, third in the championship for McLaren, and Brazilian Barrichello, it is clear that Hakkinen represents Schumacher’s biggest threat to a fourth title.

The duo’s F1 careers have a canny similarity with both making their debuts in 1991. Since then Hakkinen has racked up 145 races, Schumacher just one less.

The current champ has a clear edge in career wins - 44 to 18 - but that is more of a reflection of the time Hakkinen spent at struggling Lotus and McLaren during their doldrum years.

Schumacher’s career had taken in Benetton during their brief period of success and Ferrari’s renaissance which is why he is ahead of Hakkinen on statistics.

Since the two have had roughly equal equipment there is little to choose between them with some observers believing that, if anything, Hakkinen is the quicker.

It is obvious that Schumacher respects the challenge posed by the fellow 32-year-old because he never criticises him.

While he has always been happy to fire off brickbats at most of his fellow drivers, Damon Hill and Coulthard two obvious examples, whenever he talks about Hakkinen it is always complimentary.

That was evident after their shoot-out for the title in Japan last year when both fired off lap after lap at a level of intensity on a par with a qualifying session before Schumacher eventually triumphed.

"Mika is not only a great racer but a great sportsman," says the Swiss-based driver.

"He is also a great guy. You see that particularly in the moments when somebody loses, though I think it is wrong to say that second is a loser bacause there were only the two of us up there.

"We were fighting for a championship but I have seen many different drivers who have been completely different, trying to complain, trying to make things bad.

"Mika is a very positive man without losing the focus and not making compliments.

"He is the best man I have been fighting, losing and winning championships against, and I hope we have some good years ahead of us."

Hakkinen, similarly, never criticises Schumacher although it is not in his nature to hit out at a fellow driver, in the glare of the cameras anyway.

"Racing against Michael is a great experience," said Hakkinen, who recently joined his rival in fatherhood with the birth of a baby boy, Hugo, last December.

"He works at an extremely high level and he’s dedicated to winning so it is always very rewarding to beat him."

Though Hakkinen did come close to a public rebuke in Belgium last year after claiming Schumacher’s attempts to stop him from overtaking were 'not fair'.

Hardly the stuff of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost whose public slanging of each other when they were the top two drivers in the world was far more headline-making.

It is Prost who will surely figure in the thoughts of Schumacher this season as he needs just seven more wins to equal the Frenchman’s all-time mark of 51.

Another title triumph would also take him to within one of Juan Manuel Fangio’s career record of five.

With Schumacher hinting he will stay at Ferrari beyond 2002 when his current deal, reputedly worth £1m a race, ends he has plenty of time. Though he insists records are not the target.

"My goal is not a certain amount of titles because that is not realistic," said Schumacher, who will be aiming for a fifth successive win in Melbourne, including the last four of last year.

"I simply want to win as many races as possible not set a goal and then stop once I have achieved it."

Hakkinen is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to those goals for the next couple of years and he is relishing the chance to reclaim his title.

The Helsinki-born racer has finally admitted the pressure of going for only the second hat-trick in history proved too much last year and was responsible for his mid-season slump.

Looking hungry for wins again, Hakkinen said: "The pressure is off me this year and I am happy with that.

"Now I can fight for wins without having to think of hat-tricks. It will be good to be the hunter again."