**Michael Schumacher has become only the third man in grand prix history to win four world titles.
Schumacher led the Hungarian Grand Prix from start to finish to claim his seventh win of the season. **
He clinched his 51st race victory of his career to equal the all-time mark set by Alain Prost, who was also a four-time world champion.
Only the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, five-time champion, 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.
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 on to 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.