The 2004 Formula One season is turning out to be extremetely easy for Michael Schumacher. Or at least that's how it looks from the outside. In the cockpit, however, the Ferrari driver is working harder than any other driver. Atlas F1's Richard Barnes analyses Schumacher's work

Two weeks ago at Indianapolis, the Formula One field was reminded (if any reminder was needed) that they could not afford to give Ferrari's Michael Schumacher a 'Get in and out of the pits free' card and hope to challenge the reigning champion. In Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Schumacher returned the favour, running one stop more than his race rivals and still winning with imperious ease.

Naturally, Schumacher's extra stop was neither a gift to his rivals, nor an attempt to manufacture excitement in the most one-sided season in history. On the contrary, it represented his best hope of taking the win from pole-sitter and early race leader Fernando Alonso. Even with eight of the season's first nine GP already secured and added to his trophy cabinet, Schumacher is never satisfied and races each new event as though seeking a breakthrough maiden victory.

What has been remarkable about this season is not merely that Schumacher has won every race he's finished, but the manner in which he's accomplished those triumphs. It's not that the opposition has failed to put up a fight. Five times Schumacher has been denied pole position, and has had to find a way past the early leader(s). Each time, the German has manufactured a solution in partnership with team tactician and technical director Ross Brawn – running more stops, running fewer stops, pitting earlier, pitting later, using traffic to shield himself, using traffic to attack.

Ostensibly, it's been a laughably easy season for Schumacher. At least, that's how it has looked. The six-time champion seems to be putting in very little effort at all. That perception will belittle the magnitude of his accomplishments in 2004. Which is unfortunate, for this has been Michael Schumacher's finest season ever, and will stand as a benchmark of driver excellence for years to come.

When witnessing such a level of domination, it is customary to use phrases like 'effortless' and 'economy of effort'. These are misnomers. Even when he's leading, Michael Schumacher is working harder in the cockpit than any other driver. It's this extra effort that, paradoxically, makes his victories look so effortless. If Michael Schumacher's career marks one change to the English sporting lexicon, it should be the reversal of 'economy of effort' to read 'effort of economy'.

Schumacher's Magny-Cours victory draws immediate comparisons with his other career classic 'extra stopper' at Hungary in 1998. Although Hungary will be remembered as the greater win, that is only because Schumacher needed that victory more in a gruelling season-long championship duel with Mika Hakkinen. At Hungary, Schumacher's task was made easier by the technical problems that beset Hakkinen's McLaren late in the race. On Sunday, Fernando Alonso suffered no such problems.

Indeed, Alonso has every reason to feel robbed. His qualifying and race efforts would have been enough against anybody other than Michael Schumacher at the top of his form. After qualifying on pole with more fuel than those behind him, the Spaniard must have been confident of a second career victory. Even with Alonso having to crank on full steering lock early to cope with the Renault's alarming understeer, the R24 proved a very competitive package in front of its partisan fans on home soil.

There was nothing wrong with the Spaniard's race pace or strategy either. Of the eleven fastest laps recorded during the race, Alonso bagged six, with the other five going to Schumacher. Renault's strategy of running three shortish stints followed by a long final stint was tactically sound. The three shorter stints were designed to keep Alonso at the head of the pack. If the long final stint proved too taxing on the tyres, it wouldn't matter much as long as Alonso had track position. For all its reputation as a prime overtaking spot, the hairpin saw precious few passing attempts on Sunday. The aerodynamic disturbance in the preceding corner complex is just too much for following cars to get close enough for effective slipstreaming. Even if their rising star spent the last dozen laps holding up a train of faster cars, Renault must have been confident that Alonso had the best possible strategy and chance of victory. Until Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher proved them wrong.

Ferrari's switch from three to four stopper was, of necessity, a late decision made on the fly. Schumacher only inherited the lead (and clean air) on lap 33, with almost half the race gone. That left the German with just 25 laps (until his fourth and final stop on lap 58) to build the necessary 20-second cushion to accommodate his additional stop. Even with the benefit of an extra set of fresh rubber and (at times) a much lighter fuel load, the German faced a daunting task. Under peak tyre and fuel load conditions, the Ferrari had virtually no advantage over the Renault, and Alonso's fastest race lap was less than two tenths of a second slower than the Ferrari.

Discounting the in and out laps for his third stop on laps 42 and 43, Schumacher had 23 opportunities to record blistering laptimes between his second stop and the crucial fourth stop on lap 58. During this period, he was the fastest car on the circuit for 18 of the 23 laps. Considering that he was having to lap backmarkers regularly during this stint, and that other drivers would have either had fresher tyres or lower fuel load on many of the laps, it was an achievement of brilliant, consistent and sustained speed.

The 2004 season has not delivered a thrilling championship battle. Instead, it has provided a display of virtuoso race-car driving, the likes of which may not be seen again for decades to come. It is a natural human trait that sports legends usually take years to reach the summit of excellence in their particular discipline, and often mere months for their powers to wane.

Although it's become something of an annual prediction, Michael Schumacher may not reach these heights again. Even someone of Schumacher's legendary dedication has to reach a stage where other interests take precedence. Still, if the German can round off the second half of the season in the same manner as he's dominated the first, he'll conclude a 2004 campaign that will perhaps only be fully appreciated once he has retired.

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