Alexander Rossi knows a thing or two about going fast.
In 2016, the race car driver became only the ninth man in history to win the Indy 500 as a rookie.
But what was the first car he drove on the road?
“I learned to drive in a Mini Cooper actually,” Rossi told CNN. “It was my grandfather’s and it was a manual transmission.
“My dad wanted me to learn how to drive a stick shift, so that was the car.”
However, the American found one aspect of driving on the road as a bit of a shock.
“I remember the one comment I made — at the time I’d only been go-karting — and it was the first time I’d driven on a public road. I was super concerned that cars were coming at me!
“I hadn’t experience that before from a driving perspective, because obviously in go-karts everybody is going in the same direction — so that was an interesting reminder!”
