Drive to Survive

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Greg was briefing the pair on all the procedure they'd already heard from Netflix and all Dylan could think about was that Max Verstappen was on the other side of that door. Within a few minutes, she'd be meeting him and then there would rarely be a day she wouldn't see him for an entire year. 

She was terrified yet brimming with excitement. 

He was a master of racing and it was really easy to get lost in the intimidation of that. She had to try and remember that he was also just one of Carlos' friends. Dylan had easily got on with all his other friends last night and she had Carlos' assurance that Max was a great guy so she had nothing to worry about. 

There were endless questions she wanted to ask him, though. He could provide her with so much more engineering insight and she was fascinated about how he took simple mechanics and turned it into magic on a race track.

"...so just keep all of that in mind, okay?"

A sharp elbow in the ribs from Hunter brought Dylan back to reality and she automatically nodded, mumbling her agreement. Greg narrowed his eyes at her before sighing. He had too much to do to be dealing with twenty-something year olds and social media. 

"Hunter, Perez is just with his family right now but he's already said it's fine for you to wait in his room and he'll come have a chat once he's free."

Hunter nodded, offering a subtle thumbs up to Dylan before disappearing behind the door on the left. Greg looked down at the girl who was practically vibrating with a combination of nervous and excited energy. He recalled his early days starting off in F1 and felt a wave of understanding for her.

Those first few days in a new career were terrifying, exhilarating, stressful and fun all at once. He'd worked his way up from a young intern and he saw that early energy reflected in Dylan's wide eyes, which were darting between him and Max's door. Those young days in F1 had been some of his best days and he felt his age weigh on him as he looked on the next generation. Gone were the days of fun media activities for him; the job of keeping Red Bull relevant with a positive reputation was not an easy one for the Communications Manager.

Shaking the nostalgia off, he smiled down at Dylan, "I'll just give him a heads up and then you can go in."

She nodded, watching as Greg knocked on the door before sticking his head around, "Max, your DTS buddy, Dylan, is here. Alright to come in?"

There must have been an approving reply because Greg smiled over his shoulder and held the door for Dylan. She walked under his arm and into the room, the door falling shut behind her. It was fairly bare, filled with various cupboards, as well as a table and chairs and a sofa-bed in the corner. Everything was bright white, with tones of dark blue and red for the team colours. It wasn't a room filled with personality but the need to construct and deconstruct these rooms every week or so meant they had to be functional over familiar. 

She recognised Max instantly. He was wearing his racing suit, although it was undone halfway and tied around his hips, leaving a white, long-sleeved base shirt on show. He stood on the far side of the room with his back to her as he leant over, sorting through some papers on the table.

She hesitated for a second, wondering if she should speak first.

For all her excitement, she'd suddenly become filled with nerves in the presence of a World Champion. It was silly really. Her uncle was a World Champion in his own right and she'd never felt intimidated by him but something about being in the room with Max felt different. The air felt thinner and she lost the confidence she'd been faking all morning.