Michael Schumacher needs a win in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix to get his F1 season back on track. (CP Photo)

The showcase event on the Canadian auto racing calendar could not have come at a better time for the reigning king of Formula One. After sputtering at the start of the 2005 season, Schumacher desperately needs a victory Sunday in Montreal to turn around his lacklustre season.

The seven-time F1 champion has dominated the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during his remarkable career, taking the checkered flag a record seven times - four more than F1 icon Nelson Piquet. The German has won the event three years running, and could have won five in a row had he not finished second to brother Ralf in 2001.

When Schumacher sped to a first-place finish last year in Montreal, it was his seventh victory in the first eight races of the season and the Ferrari legend had, for all intents and purposes, wrapped up his fifth consecutive F1 title before half the schedule was even completed.

What a difference a year makes.

Schumacher is winless in 2005 and has gone eight races without a first-place showing dating back to last season. It's his longest drought since going 17 races without a win in 1992 and 1993 when he was with Benneton.

Schumacher's best result of 2005 came when he placed second at the San Marino Grand Prix — his only podium finish thus far — and he currently sits tied for eighth in the driver standings with 16 points, 43 points off the pace of front-runner Fernando Alonso.

Racing fans have grown accustomed to Schumacher dominating the circuit over the years, which makes his recent capitulation all the more surprising.

Schumacher is the most successful driver in F1 history. He's re-written the record books in much the same fashion that Wayne Gretzky did. And as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he earned an estimated $80 million US last year.

So where has it all gone wrong for the German?

Some F1 pundits have suggested Schumacher, who is the oldest driver in F1, isn't as hungry as he once was — winning seven world titles can have that kind of effect — and that the 36-year-old is in the twilight of his career as he prepares to drive off into the sunset.

For his part, Schumacher has shot down rumours of his impending retirement, ensuring Ferrari's legions of passionate tifosi (fans) that he is fully committed to the Ferrari cause.

A more plausible explanation as to why Schumacher has spun his wheels is Ferrari's failure to adapt to the slew of rule changes that F1 introduced in the off-season.

The Italian automaker's edge has always been its technical and mechanical superiority over the other teams, but the new rules have all but negated that advantage and significantly levelled the playing field.

Starting this year, all cars must use the same engine for two complete races and teams that break the rule are moved back 10 places on the starting grid. This restriction significantly slows the rate of increase of engine power output, a Ferrari trademark.

Teams also have to use the same set of tires for qualifying and the actual race, (the only exception is for a tire puncture), which lowers a car's speed. That means tires must last up to four times longer than in 2004, when Schumacher easily cruised to the F1 title.

Ferrari team boss Jean Todt recently told reporters "the rule demanding one set of tires for qualifying and the race is tough. We have interpreted that in a conservative way, and that's why we pay the costs in qualifying."

Ferrari made a serious miscalculation when it decided to start the season with last year's car, which has proven to be incompatible with the firmer, durable tires needed to conform to the new rules.

Ferrari uses Bridgestone tires, and according to Schumacher, they have poor traction and gripping. Most F1 teams use Michelin tires, including Renault's Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella who have won five of the first seven races this season, and Michelins have proven to be more durable and able to withstand more wear and tear.

As a result, cars using Michelins are dominating the qualifying rounds, leaving Schumacher farther back in the grid at the start of the race and forcing the German to play catch up — a position Schumacher is not too familiar with.

Schumacher's best grid position came in the Bahrain Grand Prix when he sat No. 2. Take that away and the German's average grid position is 10th. When you consider that a car starting from the front row thus far has won six of seven races, it's not hard to figure out why Schumacher is off to the worst start of his Ferrari career.

Another factor at play is the design of the car.

The 2005 model was the creation of Aldo Costa and not Ferrari chief designer Rory Byrne — the man responsible for designing the car that Schumacher used to win five consecutive world titles — and many F1 insiders believe that Costa's work does not match the high technical standard set by Byrne.

With 12 races left in the season and trailing Alonso by more than 40 points, Schumacher still has enough time to catch the young Spaniard and win his sixth consecutive world title. But he needs to string a few wins together in order to build some momentum and close the gap.

And there's no better place to start than in Montreal, a city he has owned during his illustrious career.