For once,maybe for the first time in his life, Bernie Ecclestone failed to dwell on a carefully considered and long drawn out response.
It came double quick, accompanied by a smile rare to his usually gaunt and implacable countenance.
My question was: "What is your opinion on the prospects for the upcoming season?"
Almost before the words were out of my mouth the answer flowed in rush: "It is, I honestly believe, going to be the greatest season of all time."
Forget the hype usually ground out by those who have a vested interest in audience-dependent ventures,Formula One kingpin Ecclestone's reaction smacked of reflex triggered by honest appraisal of the prospects.
In pictures: A look at some of the F1 drivers
As if to allow me time to absorb the impact of his forecast, and support it, he steepled his fingers under his chin and urged a nod of agreement from me
We were sitting in the splendid but understated comfort of the inner-sanctum of his London HQ.
But his mind's eye was focussed 3,000 miles away with a happy glow of anticipation that the F1 curtain-raiser in Bahrain will herald a memorable show stopper of a Grand Prix season.
In the decades we have been friends I don't believe I have ever seen him so excited at the prospects for his long-runner of a spectacular - this time a 19-race series starting Sunday in Bahrain and ending in Abu Dhabi in mid-November.
He has many times departed the scene of a Grand Prix and been heading homewards in one of his two private jets long before the chequered flag, reckoning his job had been done.
I cannot see that exit mood carrying over to Bahrain where he reckons the atmosphere, boosted by the competition, will reach fever pitch.
Like all good dramas, and Grand Prix racing is no exception, a sub-plot is crucial to the central flow of excitement and expectation and this time around we have the sensational return of hero-cum-villain Michael Schumacher after three years backstage.
The mask of implacability surrendered to another wry smile of glee when the Schumacher's name and his daring comeback with Mercedes under the guidance of his long-time mentor Ross Brawn cropped up.
"People all over the world, me included, are expecting big things from Michael," he says," and I honestly believe there is no reason why he shouldn't win the world championship for an eighth time if the car is good enough.
"His return to racing after three years on the sidelines has really fired up the interest in F1. And all the other guys on the grid will be hellbent on beating him. That alone should make for some interesting on-track situations because Michael I can promise is in no mood to back down or surrender one metre of track to anybody - certainly not some upstart wanting to add to his reputation by beating the all-time great champion."
Record-breaker Schumacher, with 91 wins from 249 GPs, maybe now 41 and a father of two with a fortune safely banked near his lakeside home in Switzerland, but he has, he readily confesses, sorely missed his comfort zone...competing in Formula One.
Not even ventures into motorbike racing - originally under an alias to disguise his identity - nor parachuting in free falls from aeroplanes could satisfy his hunger for the challenge of
the ultimate thrill, the F1 championship chase in a madcap melee of missiles of cars at 200-plus mph.
Ominously Schumacher told me:"My batteries are fully re-charged. When I quit racing three years ago I was fed up, bored and had had enough. But I have missed it so badly. And when the opportunity arose to comeback, provided I was fit enough to do it after that big crash I had racing my superbike,I jumped at it. Now, after testing, it is as if I've never been away."
He reckons he has little chance of kicking off with a win next Sunday in Bahrain but Brawn, the power behind all of Schumacher's championships at Benetton and then Ferrari,insists:"I think Michael is back to where he left off. He will be as good and as fast as ever he was.
"Okay, we may not be winners right away but I am sure we will be before the end of the season. And more than once.We've some improvements to make to the car for the opener. And I believe we will be am ong nthe front runners."
Ecclestone, now in his 80th year, newly divorced, and the survivor of a quadruple by-pass is as energised as any 30-year-old with exhausting trips around the world and ten-hour stints in his office the norm.
"What keeps me going? Well, seasons like the one coming up now," he says,"this is how I get my kicks.It is fantastic
"Just look at the line-ups.The latest two champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in the same McLaren team. Fernando Alonso, a double-champ, and Felipe Massa, back after that horrendous crash, paired at Ferrari,Schumacher - what more can you say about him? -and Nico Rosberg, a really bright kid, at Mercedes. Then there is the boy I really rate and guess will one day soon be world champion...Sebastien Vessel. What a talent he is! But nhe won't have it all his own way at Red Bull, not with Mark Webber, a real tough guy,as his teammate.
"When you ponder on the prospects for close racing all those guys give it sends shivers down your spine.And the battles will go on right through the midfield and down among the also-rans, the new teams, who will all be desperate to show they are worth their place in F1."
Central to the action will be the Battle of the Brits, Hamilton versus Button on the same side but very much opponents when the lights go out and the action fires up.
They are a mutual admiration society off-track, but each is confident he can humble his well-respected partner when the back-slapping stops and the visors are pulled down.
Back to Bernie.Will Button, who stole Hamilton's crown be able to hang on to it by beating the wonderboy?"I doubt it, " he answers,"There aren't many drivers who can do that.Lewis really is that good and clever and fast. Just like Michael .And I rate him as one of the best drivers of all time, with plenty more titles to come.
"He is a real racer, genuine and committed and terribly hard to outwit or outdrive.But what is good about him is that he's got his feet firmly on the ground, no big-headedness or attitude, and he k nows where he is at. He's brilliant for F1.A real boost."
Button's nail-biter of a title-clinching run-in last season underpinned his ability to convert his cool laid-back attitude into a race and championship winning success story.
"I don't see any reason at all - even given that my teammate is such a great driver - that I can't be a winner again this time around and successfully defend my title."
The 30-year-old's £6m-a-year wages are half of 25-year-old Hamilton's, but that doesn't worry the man dubbed the Frome Flyer, after the tiny town he hails from in the south-west of England.
"Money doesn't come into equation," he says,"I'm content with what I've got. It's titles I want.More of them.I don't care who wins the championship if I can't."
That was different mantra from the one espoused by Hamilton who said with more kindness than Button had shown:"If I can't win it, then I'd like it to be Jenson again."
A final word of warning came from wiseacre Ecclestone who winked:"They'd all better watch out for Vettel.Wow...what a driver. And he's only a kid. He and Red Bull are on a real upsurge and it could take them clear at the top.
"Whatever happens, and whoever wins races and the championship, I can promise we are in for a real treat.I can't wait."
Ted Macauley is a UK-based writer specializing in motorsport
