He has won all of the last three races in style. Now bookmakers have installed him at an astonishing 1-8 favourite for the title, even though he still lies second behind Raikkonen by two points with 10 races remaining.
Furthermore, as former British Grand Prix winner John Watson points out, if the old scoring system were still in place, Schumacher's superiority would already be showing in the title race.
"If we still had the kind of scoring which heavily rewards victory, as it should, then Michael would be leading the championship already, with 34 points to Kimi's 32,'' said Watson, the world championship runner-up in 1982.
"I don't like this year's new system, which gives more points to lesser places. Michael has won three races to Kimi's one, yet is still behind. I'm not comfortable with that anomaly.''
A sixth world crown for the German this year would break the all-time record of five, which Schumacher shares with the Argentine legend, Juan Manuel Fangio.
But given the feebleness of his season's start, and the brilliance of his wins in San Marino and Austria, it would surely rank in any case as the greatest achievement of his career.
In Imola, he raced to victory just hours after the death of his mother. At Austria's A-1 Ring, the scene of his greatest shame, his triumph was still more astonishing.
Early in his final qualifying lap he made a significant error that would have cost any other driver a place on the front two rows. Schumacher drove so brilliantly for the remainder of his hot lap that he still managed to put the car on pole.
But it was the race itself that produced the images which will linger longest in the memory.
When Schumacher came in for a scheduled refuelling stop, neither he nor the pit team knew that the fuel hose had been damaged two laps earlier during Barrichello's stop. The fuel burst into flames to Schumacher's right, inches from his head.
The pit crew leapt back, and - as former F1 pilot Martin Brundle said immediately on ITV's commentary - many a driver would have hit the seatbelt release in order to dive out of the car to safety. But Schumacher barely moved. He could see the flames licking around his helmet, but he merely waited for the crisis to pass before roaring on to victory.
"There is no other driver to match Michael, especially this year,'' said Watson.
"What he has achieved, in partnership with Ferrari and their technical director Ross Brawn, is astonishing. But the chief catalyst in the mix is Michael. It's like trying to build a fire - you need more than just the coal. Michael is the match which sparks their challenge.''
Meanwhile, come Sunday, Schumacher could equal Ayrton Senna's record of six Monaco wins. As ever, with opportunities to overtake in the race proper almost nil, a front-row berth is vital and that makes this year's one-lap qualifying on the narrow course especially important. But Schumacher is not concerned.
"If Monaco were the first race under the new rule then it would have had an enormous effect,'' he said. "But now everyone knows how it works. The same rule applies to Monaco as anywhere - it is best to make no mistakes at all.''
