CNN  — 

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.

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“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!”