letters [max verstappen]

1

January 2015 - Milton Keynes, UK

"And finally, this is the rec room for our junior drivers." The woman who had introduced herself as Amanda said. She had been showing me around the Red Bull Racing headquarters, the place that was going to be my home for the foreseeable future, my goal being to make it into F1 with them.

I peeked into the room. It was a decent size, with a ping pong table, some couches, a giant tv on the wall, and in the corner a boy sitting on a beanbag chair. He looked at us with a small smirk.

"Oh, Max this is perfect, why don't you come and meet our newest member, Rebecca?" Amanda asked. The boy, Max, stood up and walked over to us. He looked around my age, just slightly taller than me with dark blonde hair and blue eyes that I couldn't help but stare into.

"Hi, Rebecca." He stuck out his hand for me to shake. "I'm Max Verstappen."

"Hi." I said quietly and gave him a small smile as I shook his hand. "You can call me Becca. Sommer."

He grinned as he heard my accent. "You're American? Cool."

"Yeah, I hear there's not many of us around here." I blushed. Amanda looked between us.

"Well, you two seem to be getting on great! This is just about the end of our tour, so why don't I just leave you here and you can get to know each other?" She suggested.

I glanced at Max a bit awkwardly, but he just shrugged. "Sure. I don't have anything going on this afternoon." Amanda smiled and thanked him before leaving. He gestured for me to follow him to one of the couches, where he flopped down. I slowly sat on the other end, opposite him. Max looked at me through slightly squinted eyes before speaking. "You know there's no reason to be nervous, I'm not going to bite." He stated. I noticed the tension I was holding in my shoulders and neck and sighed, releasing it.

"Sorry. It's been a bit of a crazy day." I responded.

"Yeah, I could guess. You're brand new to Red Bull?" He asked.

"Brand new." I nodded. "Actually I just flew in from the US this morning, I haven't even been to my apartment. All my luggage is in some closet somewhere." I chuckled.

He nodded. "Welcome to the life. We're always traveling, I feel like my suitcase is my best friend."

I tilted my head. "But you technically live here, right?" I asked. I was under the impression that most if not all of the junior drivers were in similar situations to me and lived nearby in apartments that Red Bull provided.

"Nope. Though I'm almost never there, home is technically Hasselt, in Belgium, but I'm Dutch." He stated.

"Ah, that's your accent! I couldn't place it." I grinned and shifted more comfortably into my seat, feeling relaxed around him. "So, what are you racing in?"

He squirmed at the question, and I worried I had hit a sore spot. "Well," he scratched his neck, looking uncomfortable. "I'm actually supposed to be racing in F1 with Toro Rosso this year."

My eyes widened. "Oh my god, you're THAT Max! I've totally heard about you, I just didn't connect the dots, I never would have expected to see you here." I chuckled. "Congrats, that's really amazing." I gave him a big smile. He seemed relieved by my positive response and continued talking about it.

"Thanks, I'm really excited but really nervous. I've only been in single-seaters for a year." He nibbled on his lip.

"Wait, so does that mean you're leaving the junior program?" I furrowed my brow as he nodded. "Bummer. You seem like a cool guy to hang out with."