Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher has ended a dominant Formula One season in record-breaking style with a commanding victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, his ninth in 17 races.
The four times world champion powered from pole position to a 53rd career win with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya second in a Williams ahead of McLaren’s David Coulthard.
Schumacher is now Formula One’s all-time record points scorer with 801, seizing another statistic from France’s Alain Prost. Schumacher ended the season with an unprecedented tally of 123 points - he failed to score points in only two races.
Coulthard secured the runners-up slot in the championship with 65 points after Schumacher’s team mate Rubens Barrichello finished fifth.
Two times champion Mika Hakkinen, Coulthard’s team mate, was fourth in his last race before taking a sabbatical for 2002.
Ralf Schumacher’s Williams was sixth after an incident-packed race - the German received a 10-second penalty for missing the chicane to gain an advantage and appeared lucky not to receive further sanctions for his erratic driving.
Michael Schumacher edged ahead of Montoya at the first corner and built a sizeable lead before going into the pits on the 10th lap.
The lead swapped among several drivers, including Hakkinen, before Schumacher took it back on the 38th lap of the 53-lap race when Montoya and Hakkinen both pitted.
The Colombian nibbled at the world champion’s advantage in the final laps but, as for most of the season, there was little doubt who was going to win - the best driver in the best car.
Jean Alesi’s final race ended in spectacular fashion when the fiery Frenchman crashed six laps into his 201st Formula One appearance.
The Jordan driver was following Kimi Raikkonen when the young Finn’s Sauber spun and Alesi was unable to avoid him.
Two wheels from the Finn’s disintegrating car bounced away across the track, narrowly missing speeding cars.
Alesi had hoped to close his career in the points and become the first driver since American Richie Ginther in 1964 to finish every race in a season.
“It’s a bit sad to finish my career like that. But that’s life, that’s motor racing, we just have to accept the situation,” said Alesi.