On Saturday, Michael Schumacher had been blasΘ about the prospect of becoming Formula One's greatest ever points scorer if he took victory in yesterday's Japanese Grand Prix. After effortlessly taking his 10th pole of the season, he shrugged, said he could score a load more next year and admitted he would prefer if team-mate Rubens Barrichello topped the podium and claimed second place in the drivers' championship.
From the start of yesterday's race, those noble sentiments appeared to vanish in a puff of tyre smoke as Schumacher blasted away from the line. He kept his lead into turn one and then, just as he had decimated the opposition in qualifying, he turned on the afterburners to take, within five laps, a 10-second lead over second-placed Juan Pablo Montoya.
Barrichello, unable to get past a bullish Montoya, was consigned once again to the scrapheap. Not so much sacrificed on the altar of Schumacher's ambition as hustled out of a kitchen in which Schumacher keeps the heat red hot.
It was another great display from Schumacher. Another of those jaw-dropping periods of time in which the German appears to ascend to a higher level of consciousness, appears to divorce himself from any reality, save for that involving the effect of the tiniest readjustment, the most fractional computation.
It wasn't flawless. He outbraked himself into Spoon, kicking the back end of his Ferrari right as he made his way through. But in Schumacher's world there is time for readjustment, enough space between him and the pursuers to dab the brakes, realign his trajectory, get back on the power.
A miss and as-good-a-mile-back Montoya could only push harder, explore beyond his own and his Williams' limits, missing the chicane in the process, finding himself unable to match Schumacher.
In flashes Montoya has shown the blue blood required to rule, both in deed and word. In Brazil, indeed, he showed scant regard for Schumacher's legend, muscling past the champion in only his second grand prix. He tried it again at Indianapolis two weeks ago but was rebuffed.
In word, all year the Colombian has cursed the deification of Schumacher, famously claiming the German "is good but he ain't no Senna". But this year Montoya's verbal and mechanical jabs haven't been effective enough.
Thirty-one championship points, one victory at Monza and three pole positions in his rookie season tell you that his day will come - maybe when Williams completes its BMW-inspired transformation, maybe even next year - but this year he just didn't have the machinery, the experience, the nous to deny Schumacher a rampant championship win and the shattering of so many records it's impossible to count how many statistical lists he now heads.
Indeed, in anticipation of next year's championship, yesterday's result may turn out to be somewhat prophetic. The champion taking the laurels, followed by Montoya and David Coulthard, the man who will next year don the mantle of McLaren royalty following the close of Mika Hakkinen's career yesterday.
In deference to Mercedes' new liege lord, Hakkinen even bowed at the last, allowing Coulthard the podium finish despite running more than five seconds ahead of the Scot throughout the race. It was a strange symbolism from the Finn. Was he repaying a three-year-old debt to Coulthard, allowing the Scot by as Coulthard had done in Melbourne in Hakkinen's first championship year?
If so, it was a little late and a little pointless. Fourth was more than good enough for the Scot to seal second place in the drivers' championship. Was he, indeed, bending a knee in deference to McLaren's new team leader? It hardly seems likely. Or was he simply not bothered about a final appearance on the podium and a final round of interminable farewells in the post-race press conference.
If it was the last-mentioned, then his reluctance to accept the valediction of his peers and the press may signal that Hakkinen wishes to fade from view entirely, slip out of the limelight, never to return.
Whatever the reasoning, the presence of Schumacher, Montoya and Coulthard on the podium points the way to 2002. Like fighters staking a ranking claim to a tilt at the world title, the Ferrari, Williams and McLaren leaders (and Montoya is without doubt becoming boss at Williams) took their places, eschewed drenching each other in champagne in favour of private celebrations with their crews below and began the sparring which will carry through until Melbourne next March.
Formula One may retreat to test beds and trials in the next few months but yesterday on the podium at Suzuka the first blows of 2002 were already thrown.
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: 1; M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 123 pts, 2; D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren 65, 3; R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 56, 4; R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 49, 5; M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren 37, 6; J P Montoya (Col) Williams 31, 7; N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber 13, 8; J Villeneuve (Can) British American Racing 12, 9;= J Trulli (Ita) Jordan, 9;= K Raikkonen (Fin) Sauber 9, 11; G Fiscihella (Ita) Benetton 8, 12; E Irvine (NRI) Jaguar Racing 7, 13;= H-H Frentzen (Ger) Prost, 13;= J Alesi (Fra) Jordan 6, 15; O Panis (Fra) British American Racing 5, 16; P de la Rosa (Spa) Jaguar Racing 3, 17; J Button (Brit) Benetton 2, 18; J Verstappen (Ned) Arrows
