More often than not, Formula 1 drivers tend to get idolized. That being said, it isn’t only by the fans. Legends of the sport such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, etc are idolized by drivers even today! It’s no secret that, if given a chance, almost the entirety of the current F1 grid would give up anything to be able to battle wheel-to-wheel with their racing heroes. However, only a few get that privilege in real life. 4x Champion Sebastian Vettel is one among them. But for him, it wasn’t really such a big deal.

Vettel is German by birth. Naturally, it shouldn’t come up as a surprise that the boy from Heppenheim had grown up watching the great Michael Schumacher dominate the sport with Ferrari. From 2000 to 2004, the German won 5 consecutive titles with the Scuderia. In the end, he bowed out with 7 titles, a feat only matched but not broken yet. Schumacher announced his retirement from F1 in 2006. However, he returned to the sport in 2010 with Mercedes for a 3-year stint. This coincided with Vettel’s dominant streak from 2010 to 2013.

But for Sebastian Vettel, racing against his childhood hero wasn’t really a jaw-dropping, out-of-this-world experience. During his final Beyond the Grid appearance, Vettel explained why. “I got to know him more and more. If I hadn’t gotten to know him and raced against him straight away, it would have been unreal.” [translated via Google Translate]

“It never felt like it was unreal, because I ran against Michael as a person, and as a friend. I sometimes forgot he was the Michael I looked up to as a kid, because then you get to know someone and see the person first before the stats. It was just nice to race against him, and sometimes I had flashbacks to my childhood and realized it was him.”

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The Vettel-Schumacher F1 saga had a very wholesome and iconic end. That being said, even if Vettel didn’t make a meal out of racing the 7x champ, Schumacher knew exactly how special Vettel was from the very beginning.

The time when a 12-year-old Sebastian Vettel terrorized Michael Schumacher

It’s public knowledge that Schumacher has had a supervisory role to play in Vettel’s early karting days. That being said, the extent of his involvement should not come as a surprise given the impression a young Vettel left on the Ferrari legend.

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Ex-Ferrari man Gerhard Berger told Corriere dello Sport, “I met Michael on vacation in Mauritius and asked him how he was doing in the world of Kart, he replied that there was only one boy aged 12-13 who made life difficult for him and it was Sebastian Vettel.” [translated via Google Translate]

WATCH THIS STORY: Inside Michael Schumacher’s Car Collection

Who is your Formula 1 idol? And given a chance to a 1 lap duel, who do you think would come out victorious?