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I wonder what the old warrior of Formula 1 truly thinks of Sebastian Vettel.
Michael Schumacher wore a face like thunder when he walked into the paddock last night after his second appearance in the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix ended spectacularly, after his Mercedes collided with Sergio Perez's Sauber halfway through the race at Marina Bay to signal the appearance of the safety car.
He exchanged words with his former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, before marching off to his Mercedes garage chased by a horde of TV cameras and photographers.
The 42-year-old may have turned into a cheerleader for team-mate Nico Rosberg, who eventually finished seventh, but watching the screens, he would also have witnessed the silky drive of Vettel.
After a peerless qualifying session on Saturday night, Red Bull's reigning world champion produced a masterclass in the toughest Grand Prix of all to win his ninth race of the season.
There are five races to go and he only needs one point and will surely wrap up his second successive world drivers' title in Japan in two weeks,
All week long Vettel has been smiling and engaging, a picture of calm.
He left it to everyone else to talk about pressure, he insisted he would simply focus on his job.
And it was to win in Singapore.
Holding a record seven world titles, Schumacher would have been in that position on numerous occasions.
He would have known Vettel needed Zen-like daring, to almost kiss the walls along Singapore's tight street circuit to cut milliseconds off his pace.
Vettel needed to stay ice-cool as the Red Bull charged mercilessly across back-breaking bumps, while the sweat poured off his body for more than two hours as the heat and humidity tried its best to choke him.
He needed to stay calm and focused while his crew changed his tyres on three occasions, and towards the end when he encountered back-markers.
In a drive the very best would have been proud of, Red Bull's ace did all of that, to lead from start to finish for the first time this season.
Revealing a little of his current state of mind, Vettel said, matter-of-factly: "When the safety car came out, it really wasn't part of our plan.
"But we pulled away.
"There is plenty of traffic here and not much of a big margin to squeeze through, but I was always in control."
Little exaggeration, all business.
Along with his nine wins, Vettel has finished second four times this season and was fourth at home in Germany, the only time he has been missing from the podium so far.
In 2002 with Ferrari, Schumacher became the only driver in Formula 1 history to finish among the top three in every race.
Two years later, he won the most races in a single campaign when he bagged 13.
Schumacher was 26 when he won back-to-back world championships with Benetton.
Vettel's 24, and when he does clinch his second world crown this year, he will become the youngest driver to successfully defend Formula 1's drivers' title.
It will be a colossal achievement.
Although Vettel was only focused on one thing. "For this year's championship, it looks like we have a chance at the next race," he said.
Very soon, the motor-racing world will begin arguing whether he can chase down Schumacher.
Vettel's a long way off from the record.
Right now, though, he is in that magical space the sports world calls "the zone".
The thousands who thronged Marina Bay over the weekend, and the millions watching on TV, along with Schumacher, witnessed it.
Vettel's finally won on the toughest circuit of them all. The force is with him.
Vettel is Formula 1's latest Jedi.
Leonard Thomas is sports editor at Today.
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