Italian sports fans have been celebrating Michael Schumacher's win in the Formula One Drivers' World Championship, driving a Ferrari.

Thousands of fans took to the streets in Maranello in northern Italy, which is the headquarters of Ferrari's Formula One team.

Schumacher clinched victory in the Japanese Grand Prix -- Ferrari's president, Luca di Montezemolo, claimed it as a victory for Italian technology.

It was the first time the Ferrari team has won the championship since 1979.

Schumacher's main rival this season -- the McLaren driver, Mika Hakkinen -- finished second; David Coulthard was third. Although there is one more grand prix to run, in Malaysia, Hakkinen cannot now gain more points than Schumacher.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service