Schumacher hopes to make it six

Michael Schumacher plans to maintain his crushing domination of Formula One with a sixth world championship win in 2003.

The German equalled Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five drivers' crowns after seizing victory in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

He became the first man since the Argentinian to record a title hat-trick and set his sights on another triumph.

"I have the desire to make it six but not because that would beat Fangio, just for the pleasure of getting more wins," said Schumacher.

"We are in such good shape team-wise and performance-wise we can keep this performance for much longer and keep having success.

"I will not compare myself to Fangio because what he did in his times is not comparable to what we do now. The effort he had to put in was a lot more than just being a driver."

But Schumacher needed McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to skid on oil deposited by Allan McNish's stricken Toyota with just over four laps left to snatch victory by 1.1 seconds from the Finn.

"Kimi drove a fantastic race," he added. "It was just lucky and I didn't think anything would happen like that, but that's motorsport.

"I was warned of his problem and reacted and suddenly the championship was back in my pocket.

"They were the worst five laps of my career because the pressure was on. But then you pass the flag and you know that you have done it and that's a fantastic moment."