Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 253: Race Weekend | Saturday | Race I

“It was an incredible qualifying session, where we witnessed incredible driving from all the drivers and two perfect laps driven by one driver above all else. So, let’s hear from the driver himself,” Brad said as the feed immediately cut to Fatih standing in front of the sponsorship board with a microphone hanging in front of him.

As per the regulations, every top-three finisher had to attend the post-session interview, which would be used for the series website, social media, and official press releases. If they didn’t attend without a valid reason, they could even be penalized.

“Congratulations on the incredible laps. Can you talk us through them?” the reporter immediately asked the moment he received the green light.

“I tried to reduce the track distance while keeping the momentum as high as possible. This allowed me to be very fast across the track’s technical sections since I was taking the most direct line…” Fatih took his time to answer the question, making it as detailed as he had always wanted drivers to be when he watched their interviews.

“That is a very detailed and interesting answer. You have been consistently about two-tenths faster than everyone in the first free practice, and in response to that pace difference, even your engine has been taken for an in-depth check. What was your reaction to that?”

“Their reasoning for the inspection was sound since I have been consistently performing above everyone, but being on the receiving end of it is not enjoyable at all, as it left me unable to participate in the second session. So, it stung a bit, but I take it as a compliment that my pace is so good it’s considered unsustainable unless cheating is involved,” Fatih said with a light expression, looking like he was fully enjoying the process.

“Is there a reason why you left everything to the final five minutes before joining the track? Some would say it is quite risky, considering you were on the spare engine and you didn’t have any experience with it, making it like driving a new car from the get-go. How confident were you before joining the track, and did the car drive as you expected?”

“The reason is very simple: to reduce tire use as much as possible so that I have the freshest tires at the start of the first race later today. I could have driven early and returned to the pit lane, but that would have meant giving up the pace increase that is naturally gained thanks to the track rubbering in.

As for the threat of failing to adapt to the new engine, it was not something I worried about or even had in my mind. All engines are performance-equalized to within two percent, so even a new one will be performing within that window. Considering the gap I had from the start, it wasn’t something that difficult to adjust to, which I did during the warm-up lap and continued fine-tuning during the first and even the second lap.”

“Did you have a plan if it didn’t go as expected?”

“Not really, that thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”

“Won’t people call that recklessness and needless risk-taking?”

“I don’t see it that way. Driving these cars is a risk in itself, and for each individual, the level of risk worth taking differs. That’s why some people don’t drive Formula cars. For me, this level of additional risk is acceptable, but I have enough confidence in my driving that I hadn’t even considered it a risk.”

“What if things had gone wrong?”

“I mean, there is always a risk of something going wrong. But even if I had left earlier, something could have gone wrong then. A puncture could have happened at any time, so to me, this is the same risk in my mind as an unplanned puncture.”

“How much of this result is down to the work the team did, and how much of it is on you?”

“There are things one side can do that the other side has no way to affect, and we both did our best in our respective domains. They did the perfect work on the aggressive setup and installing the new engine, and I did my best to extract as much performance from the car as possible. It has worked very well for both of us, seeing as the car is in pole position,” Fatih said, aware that this was a trap question, and gave each side their flowers for the things they controlled because he knew that it would be impossible to do everything alone.

“Thank you very much for your answers and good luck in the upcoming races.”

“Thank you too,” Fatih said before walking off-screen to the waiting Alex, who handed him water as they started heading back to the garage while having a light conversation. A few drivers on the way looked at them as if they were seeing a monster, as they had finally had time to watch the two monstrous laps that Fatih had driven, which resulted in him opening a more-than-one-second gap to the second-fastest driver.

Upon arriving at the team garage, he celebrated with the mechanics of the entire team, even those from the other drivers’ garages, as they had all pitched in yesterday to rapidly install the new engine and implement the aggressive setup. He shook hands and hugged them one by one as thanks for their hard work.

“They are waiting for you for the post-session debrief,” Alex said once he was done, pointing him to the meeting room.

He immediately headed into the room, not wanting to make them wait any longer. The meeting could only start when all the drivers were present, and even Dennis, who had finished P2, had returned long before him, since Fatih was interviewed last.

The debriefing went very quickly since they only talked about the track conditions and the car’s feel, along with what very limited changes they wanted to be implemented before the next session that weren’t against parc fermé rules.

They then moved on to discussing the upcoming Race 1 in a few hours. Once done, they were finally allowed to disperse. Fatih left to go and see his mother and Burak, who were at the track, to spend some time with them before he had to return and start preparing for the race.