The Team // A Formula One AU

Lewis

"Well here we are guys, Dallas, Texas, where-"

"Can we not do this outside?" Max yells from the back of the bus. Everyone seconds him and Tom sighs and lets us file out. It's intensely hot even at five o'clock and nobody wants to spend an extra second inside. We slither off the bus like an exploding can of beans.

"So, as I was saying. Welcome to Dallas, Texas, where in six days' time we'll be having our first race in hot and sunny conditions. Take some time to get used to the weather. The hostel's just down the road and since we've been on the bus for two days I suggest we go out and have a look around."

"We can't go out like this though, we stink," Carlos says.

"Yeah well we'll just have to hope there's some decent showers in there. Everyone get your bags and follow me."

We unload the bus and trail through the heat after Tom who doesn't seem to mind being drenched in sweat. Kimi told me this is the cheapest hostel of the whole season so I wouldn't be surprised if it was even worse than last week's. I really hope not. We stop outside a plain white building which it's impossible to tell the age of. Who knows what it might be like in there.

"Okay, Max's group are in room eleven, Sebastian's in room twelve and Valtteri's in room four. We're going out in half an hour so I'm expecting you back here in time for then."

"Half an hour!?" Esteban asks incredulously. "That's not enough time."

"Well it's all the time you've got," Tom says and throws keys at their new respective owners. We run to find our rooms and the other groups peel off as we go, it turns out we're at the opposite end of the building and on a different floor. Esteban rams the key into the lock and we pile in.

"Air conditioning!" Valtteri points to the ceiling and Lance scrambles to put it on.

"Don't even think about it, Hamilton," Esteban elbows me out of the way and takes the bed I was about to put my suitcase on. He immediately makes a mess, spreading clothes, hair products and other beauty things all over the room.

"I'm first in the shower," he declares with today's towels and shampoos gathered in his hands and leaves to try and find the bathroom. Valtteri is next to go, closely followed by Kimi. I'm alone with Lance and Nikita, scrambling to find my spare towel after my first got wet at the lake.

"I'm back, I don't know where the showers are." Esteban bursts in as I'm about to say something. Valtteri and Kimi follow close behind him looking agitated.

"Maybe they're upstairs," I suggest. I grab my wash stuff and follow Kimi to the lift. This place is a crazy mix of ancient and modern.

"Oh, hey guys," I hear Max's voice as the lift doors open to reveal him, Mick and Alex. "Do you know where the showers are?"

"They're not on our floor," Kimi says and Max frowns.

"They're not on the top floor either. Do you think there are any?" Max asks as he looks around our corridor.

"There'd better be, I'm not going outside like this," Mick mutters as he and Alex exit the lift behind him. Maybe we could ask at reception. I check my watch. We have fifteen minutes left.

"Guys I found them!!" Lando screams from the other end of the hall where the stairs are. "They're in the basement!"

Max jabs at the down button on the lift and I jump in after him while I take off my watch. I wrap it in my towel and hope it doesn't get lost. The lift takes us down under the ground to a dimly lit room. Behind the wall I can hear running water and screams, but I've known the team long enough not to be surprised. We open the swinging door to see everyone from room twelve plus Carlos and George dodging spurts of water from every wall of the large room. Lando's already soaking in his clothes. Oh my gosh. It's a communal shower.

"Is this all for one person?" Lando chirps.

"I don't think so." Esteban appears from the stairwell behind us with Valtteri and they look as stricken as I feel inside. We have ten more minutes.

"I'm fine showering in my clothes," Max says and Mick agrees. They each claim a shower and stand under it fully clothed. I feel like I shouldn't be here. Are they even going to get clean that way?

"I can't get these shorts wet though, the dye will run," Alex says, tugging at his clothes.

"Me neither, but I'm not going out looking like a pig." Esteban steps back and strips down to only his designer boxers. Alex frowns but does the same and Carlos and George decide to copy.

"I wish I'd thought of that," Max says whilst peeling off his shirt. I don't know how he's planning on removing his wet jeans.

Five minutes. We get changed together practically every day. I could copy Esteban or I could save all my dignity and copy Mick. I've been to the beach with them wearing just swimming trunks. But for some reason this is different.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Carlos shouts and I tell him we don't have long. He shuts off his water and rushes out to get redressed. Some others start leaving too. I haven't even started.

I dodge splashes as I step up to a shower and hang up my wash things. I look around a bit before taking off my shirt. Nobody's watching. Nobody is interested.

Kimi takes the shower right next to mine. Can't he give me some more space? I decide to keep my shorts on since they're not very thick but Kimi beside me takes his off. I'm so uncomfortable right now.

Just a quick splash, wash my face, my feet, my armpits. I guess my hair will dry quickly enough in the sun. Kimi turns his shower to the coldest setting and I recoil from the splashes, shrinking into myself before he shuts off the water and starts towelling himself off.

"Guys, Tom's waiting!" I hear Peter yell into the basement and everyone but me heads off. I look around before slathering myself with soap and quickly washing it all back off. I almost slip over as I towel dry my hair and pull my shirt back on.

I don't think I'm dressed suitably for dinner in my soaking shorts and sweaty shirt but this is the best I can do. I gather my stuff, run up the stairs to the room to ditch it and grab my day bag. Esteban's still in there preening himself so I take the time to pull on a different shirt and shorts in the privacy of the space underneath my duvet. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive an entire week with this shower system. I just know I can't wait for us to secure some sponsors and pay for proper hotel rooms.