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Max almost ran out of the door when his father shouted that his driving instructor was outside waiting for him. It was a plain car that stood before him, a silver Peugeot that had L plates on the bonnet and the boot - he'd expected something a little more professional looking.
He climbed into the drivers seat eagerly and buckled himself in before looking up at his new instructor. The man beamed back at him, big brown eyes full of happiness as his messy hair framed the face Max had grown to know well.
"Carlos?" Max said, shocked causing his voice to squeak, "What the hell is going on?"
Carlos' grin just widened.
"Your Dad hired me to teach you to drive," he said, "Now, adjust your seat and the mirrors and then slowly set off."
Max gaped at him, disbelief that his Father would hire his team mate to teach him how to drive. Carlos was still watching him expectantly and raised an eyebrow as he waited for Max to do as he said. Slightly flustered, Max pushed his chair back and then forwards again as he found a comfy position and tweaked the mirrors so he could see clearly.
He put the car in gear and floored the accelerator, quickly reaching the 50 kilometre per hour speed limit before braking hard at the T junction at the end of the street.
"OK," Carlos said, releasing his grip on the edge of the chair as the car came to a halt, "Maybe a little less quickly. We're not racing. Turn right."
Max did as he was told. He was very tempted to turn left and annoy Carlos but he realised that turning left would take him into the centre of town and it would be busy there. Turning right led out to country roads and they would be far more fun.
The car jerked as Max tried to change up gears more slowly. He was used to quick gear changes and it seemed strange releasing the clutch slowly and not pushing his foot down as far as it would go as soon as possible.
"Your changes could be smoother," Carlos said, as though reading Max's mind, "Release the clutch slower as you put your foot back on the gas. Fluid movement."
"Are you going to criticise everything I do?" Max said, keeping his eye on the road as he slowly gained speed and managed to change into fourth gear without too much jerkiness.
"Yes," Carlos replied, "Because otherwise you'll be shit at driving and I'll look bad when you fail your test."
Max snorted.
"I'm the one who will be eaten alive by the media for being a seventeen year old formula one driver who failed his driving test," he said, suddenly realising that that was exactly what would happen and gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.
Carlos watched Max's knuckles turn white as he clung to the steering wheel. The younger drive was leaning forward and concentrating hard on the road ahead.
"Take the next right," Carlos said, "Don't forget to..."
"Yes, I bloody know I need to indicate," Max snapped.
"Well you didn't at the last corner," Carlos pointed out.
Max pouted as he tried to brake smoothly, change down gears and indicate all at the same time - that was new, you didn't have to indicate on track. He made the corner cleanly and managed not to hit any of the cars that were parked on the side of the street before Carlos told him to stop again.
"OK, three point turn," Carlos said, "You know the basics, yea?"
"Full lock left forward, full lock right backwards," Max said.
"And watch for traffic and don't hit the curb," Carlos added.
Max glanced down the road in both directions. It was a relatively quiet street and there was nothing coming, so he slowly released his foot from the clutch and edged into the road, turning the wheel as far to the left as he could.
As the car bridged the centre of the road and began to pick up a bit of speed on the opposite side, he released the clutch, preparing to brake.
"Woah, woah, woah, slowly!" Carlos almost shouted, causing Max to slam on the brakes about a fifth of the way into the turn.
"What?" Max said, "What was wrong?"
"You don't need speed for this," Carlos replied, "Nice and slowly."
"I wasn't even going fast!" Max said, exasperated, "I barely even touched the accelerator."
"Just... carry on, reverse now." Carlos said.
Max continued with the manoeuvre, annoyed that Carlos' interruptions and shouts to slow down resulted in him taking seven turns and a few bumps up the curb before he finally made it around.
"We'll work on that later," Carlos decided, "Now go just past the corner ahead of us and stop. We'll try reversing around a corner."
Max stopped as Carlos requested and turned his head around, sliding into reverse gear and starting to edge around the corner. He was beginning to get the feel of the pedals now and releasing the clutch to accelerate slowly was going well until he mounted the curb.
"Yea, you don't need to hit the apex here, mate," Carlos laughed, grinning as Max pouted and changed into first gear to try again.
His second attempt was more successful. Carlos complained that it was a little wide and opened his door to show Max how far from the curb he was, but he let the younger man drive on, back out onto the country roads.
"Okay, how about an emergency stop?" Carlos suggested.
Max nodded, concentration taking over again before he unexpectedly slammed his feet down on the clutch and brakes.
Carlos hurtled forward, slamming his hands against the dashboard and almost flew through the windscreen, his whole body rising up from the passenger seat.
"Bloody hell," Carlos said, trying to tidy his hair as he sat back into his seat, "Well I think you've got that one down."
Max smiled, putting the car back in gear and driving on before turning to Carlos with a glint in his eye.
"I'm glad you trust my driving enough not to wear your seatbelt on my first lesson."