SUZUKA, Mie Pref. -- Michael Schumacher of Germany posted his eighth win of the season Sunday at the Japan Grand Prix, the 16th leg of the Formula One auto racing series, to win his first grand prix championship in five years.
Schumacher completed 53 laps over the 5.864-km track at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture in 1 hour, 29 minutes, 53.435 seconds to edge Mika Hakkinen by 1.84 seconds and give Ferrari its first championship in 21 years.
It was Schumacher's first championship since 1995 when he won the title with Benetton. This is his third title overall.
Schumacher leads the grand prix rankings 98-86 over defending champion Hakkinen, who has no chance of overtaking the German with only the Malaysian Grand Prix on Oct. 22 remaining.
Third place on Sunday went to Hakkinen's English teammate David Coulthard while Honda, returning to F-1 after eight years, was sixth with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve driving.