Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 280: Race Weekend | Firday | Back to the Chase

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Silverstone for the first session of the ninth of ten rounds, and it has never been a silent one,” Brad said as the feed, fully zoomed in on a helmet that looked almost bare in its pure colors, slowly started to pull back at a controlled pace. It revealed a driver’s hand holding it, and as it zoomed out more, the zipper of his race suit came into view, then his waist, revealing a Turkish flag with “F. YILDIRIM” next to it. The camera’s speed ramped up, finally showing Fatih’s face as he held the helmet at his waist while talking with James, his racing engineer.

“And the cause for the majority of that is the man right there, Fatih Yıldırım, the Turkish-German driver driving under the Turkish flag from his mother’s side. If you looked at him without any context, you would just think he was a handsome young lad and not a minister of chaos tearing through an entire series,” Justin jumped in, excitement in his voice, as he, just like many viewers, was eager to see how this weekend would unfold.

“Well, he is not the chaos maker, but the aftermath of his performance is the cause of that chaos. However, look at the calm on the face of that man. He doesn’t look like someone who is on the verge of completing the greatest title chase I have ever seen in my career at all; rather, he looks like someone just in the middle of a test session.”

“You need that level of confidence to do what he did with the consistency he has. If it weren’t for the inspection in the week he returned, many people would have argued that he was using an illegal engine. But it seems like that inspection, which many saw as an unfavorable decision, has really come out as a clutch counter-argument for anyone who might have said that. But I have to say, this is still a championship he can lose if he can’t maintain the same level of calmness and consistency, which must be getting harder and harder.”

“How so? He did it for four rounds; what stops him from doing it for two more?” Brad, despite knowing what Justin was insinuating, lobbed the question for the sake of the viewers.

“Well, when he was chasing for the points, the amount of pressure on him was big, but not to the current level. If he had failed, no one would have pointed fingers at him as a bad or untalented driver.

However, now that they have seen what he is capable of, everyone expects him to finish the chase because they believe it is easy, so long as he maintains the same level of performance. If I were in his place, this weekend would be the one with the most pressure, with the closest one being the fifth round, which was his return.”

“Is it because he had a ’YOLO’ mentality when he was so far behind, but now he has to be conservative in his actions to avoid any potential mistakes and end up losing points?”

“Exactly that, but I don’t think he is someone who is willing to do that. After all, he has never made a damaging mistake in all of the four rounds he has returned and dominated in, which also makes me wonder if this same level of performance would have come from him if he was allowed to start from the first round of the season.”

“I don’t think so. Although he looked competitive, it would have most likely been a back-and-forth championship between him and the other top-five drivers. But the twelve-race ban and watching his teammates snatching wins and podiums while he was watching from home must have lit the fire of pure, unadulterated focus to bring us the monster we are seeing.”

“So he is a good driver, but this level of performance is a result of the environment?”

“Well, in my heart, that is the reason, but who knows? After all, he only drove a single push lap in that one qualifying session before he was called to the pit when they realized the mistake, so we can only speculate.”

“However, I have something that can remove the speculation about this weekend,” Brad said with a smirk on his face.

“Enlighten us, please,” Justin played along.

“I asked around and learned that Team Arden drivers spend at least two weeks on this track during their training session for transitioning to single-seaters, so they are my favorites for this weekend as they know the track inside and out.”

“Sometimes I feel sorry for the drivers who have to fight against him, and now there are two more with extensive experience on this track that the others have to be ready for with just a few hours of practice time. But what can I say except…”

Just before he could continue with his rambling, Brad interjected, saying, “…you’re welcome,” laughing as he sang the Maui song from *Moana*.

“For the tides, the sun, the sky!”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m just an ordinary driver,” the two commentators seemed to have forgotten about their job as they started a back-and-forth singing of the song before Brad changed the lyrics to fit the situation they were in, and they both started laughing.

……

“Are they kids or something?” Helmut Marko, who was watching the first free practice session from the Singapore Red Bull garage on his tablet while FP1 for the Singapore Grand Prix was just about a minute away from starting, couldn’t help but say when he heard the two commentators randomly start singing. It immediately reminded him that this was not up to the professional requirements of F1.

Due to the seven-hour time difference, the first free practice sessions fell at the same time, and he didn’t want to miss either of them. Fatih was at a very pivotal weekend, while the other was Max Verstappen, who was on a track that suited their car due to its high-downforce nature. So, although it was not as important as Max’s session in his mind, it was very close due to the situation surrounding it.

“What are you watching?” a voice was heard from behind him, and he immediately placed the tablet on the table in front of him as he turned and said, “British F4 session.” He was answering Max Verstappen, who was standing behind him with his helmet in hand, fully ready for the start of his free practice session.