Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 254: Race Weekend | Saturday | Race I (II)

“It is a front-row lockout for the two teammates here, and from the look of it, both are aiming for the lead from the first lap. Look at how aggressively they are angled; they are almost facing each other. We will know in a few seconds as the final car is on the grid. We have a green… the lights are on… and it’s lights out, and we’re underway! A good start from Fatih, who gets away quickly and immediately moves to close any opening for Dennis Hauger to attack. Watch as they come down into Clervaux for the first time! The outside line from Paavo Tonteri is putting a challenge to Kiern Jewiss in third place.”

The second commentator immediately took over from there. “They all got off the line fairly safely, but into Clervaux for the first time, let’s see if anybody is making up positions. Ayrton Simmons is past three cars already, and he is going around the outside. Can he get through into the chicane? You can see now through his camera… you’ve got to be so careful there. OOOOOOOOOOH, he’s made contact! We saw he needs to get back on the track. Easy on the foot… and he’s gotten away with it, as long as there’s not too much grass on the tires yet.”

“Not sure what happened there, but Paavo Tonteri has managed to get past Jewiss, and Simmons is dropping down. Is there a problem with him?”

“Yeah, it looks like an issue with his engine, and it might lead to a DNF and a loss of points. But Jewiss is fighting back for his position from Tonteri! Ooh, they nearly make contact but managed to avoid it. This top-five battle is very interesting if you ignore Fatih, who has already opened a big lead on his own,” Brad finally returned his focus back to Fatih when the screen showed Fatih already three-tenths ahead of Dennis, who was now bogged down in a battle that was losing him time the longer he was in it.

“As he said in the interview earlier, he has the fresher tires, which only did two push laps, so that in itself is an advantage paired with him having a good start. This looks like another dominant session coming, but his teammate is now forced to brake late and take a less-than-optimal line into the Tower bend to fight back against Tonteri, who is mounting a very interesting fight while Fatih is enjoying the peace of a good start.”

…….

Lap 5.

{Gap to Fatih?} Dennis asked on the radio as he looked ahead, seeing Fatih quite a distance from him. He had finally managed to open a gap to Tonteri, who had made it very difficult for him in the opening laps, and was looking to close the gap to Fatih.

{Two seconds,} came the answer from his race engineer.

{How much is our lap time difference?} he asked, wanting to know the difference in their laps to see how much he needed to push to close the gap and attempt a race win.

{His pace is now three-tenths a lap faster, and it is improving every lap.}

{Understood,} Dennis said before focusing on his driving as the straight was coming to an end.

“He has a mountain to climb if he wants to close that gap,” Brad said in an amused tone once the radio conversation finished playing, as the timing tower showed the gap between the two drivers increasing little by little with each second. “Do you think it is achievable?” he added, asking Justin for his thoughts.

“Unless Fatih makes a mistake, I don’t see any way someone is going to close on him and overtake when he has been in clean air from the start of the race. He has shown he already has pace above everyone and can sustain it continuously for an entire race without faltering.

The only race I can see him having difficulty in is the second race, which will have a partially reversed grid. If he wins the first race, he will be starting anywhere from sixth all the way back to tenth, depending on the random selection of the number of reversed positions. But no matter which one, he would still need to carve through the field if he wants to win the second race.”

“But it is very surprising how calm he is leading the race when it is his first F4 race. It seems we have almost forgotten about that because of the capability he has shown us, but in reality, he is a rookie in this race, driving against veterans who have twelve races or more under their belts.”

“It keeps me wondering where on the championship ladder he would have been if not for the penalty, and if he had been allowed to start competing from the beginning.”

“Somewhere on the top, but not the lead, I believe.”

“Why so?”

“Because we have yet to see if he can sustain that consistency amidst the pressure of leading the championship. It might be that he can perform with this much confidence and take risks like the one he did in the qualifying session because no one expects anything regarding the championship from him. That might change if he had been leading, as he would have wanted to be more conservative to avoid making mistakes, mistakes that are very acceptable in his current position.”

“I see. So you are saying this confidence might be because of that. But what if he has a plan to fight for the championship?”

“It is almost mathematically impossible for him to do that because he would need to win every single race for that to happen.”

“But what if he does have that idea of fighting for it? And what if he succeeds?”

“Well, if he does that, it would be the biggest recovery in the history of motorsports, and I’m sure there is no situation like that one, but it is almost impossible.”

“Well, we can include that question in his post-race interview because he doesn’t look like he is planning on easing up at any moment here, as the gap has now extended to three seconds.”

…….

“There is winning a race, and then there is winning it like this. As he comes out of the final corner with almost no one in sight due to the ten-second gap he has built, setting nine of the fastest laps in the session, the checkered flag welcomes him! Fatih Yildirim takes his first win in his first race of his F4 season!

It is one for one for him and a very good start, considering the situation his season has been in. What a super drive from the young driver…” Brad commentated on the final lap, which was fully focused on Fatih, giving him the deserving attention as he made it clear to remind the viewers that this was the first single-seater race for Fatih and, at the same time, his first win. He was looking forward to the remaining two races tomorrow.