Michael Schumacher victory 2003 Formula One World Championship
Schumacher broke Fangio's record of five World Drivers' Championships by winning the drivers' title for the sixth time in 2003, after a closely contested battle with his main rivals. Before the season started, the FIA introduced new regulations and a new points system to make the championship more open. The biggest competition came from the McLaren-Mercedes and Williams-BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions. He fell 16 points behind McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix—despite the death of his mother Elisabeth just hours before the race—and the next two races, and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher's victory in Canada and Barrichello's victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led Montoya and Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the United States Grand Prix, only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers' title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.In 2004, Schumacher won a record 12 of the first 13 races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Montoya during a safety car period. Schumacher clinched a record seventh Drivers' title at the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished the season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season.
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