Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 282: Race Weekend | Saturday | Qualifying

(Track image)

“Do you think he is running in low-fuel mode for maximum push?” Brad asked as the feed focused on Fatih, who was swerving left and right on the Wellington straight to generate as much heat into the tires as possible, ready to go for his first push lap of the qualifying session.

“I mean, it is more advantageous for him to do that to reduce tire wear as much as possible,” Justin answered.

“Then why is his usual qualifying pace always close to the pace he has shown in the free practice sessions? He’s done it four times, so it makes me wonder if he even does the qualifying session on low fuel.”

“That would be very foolish of him to do that, as that is needless weight being carried.”

“Then are you saying he is holding back?”

“I don’t know, but we will get our answer now, as he has already exited Luffield in third gear and immediately goes into fourth, and the final turn before the start of the lap is coming,” Justin said just as the feed turned to the T-cam, making his steering inputs visible along with the data on the steering dashboard.

“Take us through it and make it as detailed as possible for the sake of the other drivers and viewers,” Brad joked just as Fatih moved to fifth gear before turning in at full throttle and cutting the Woodcote corner so much that only the left-side tires remained on the track.

“A smart move, as it allows him to keep as much momentum as possible without breaking track limits as he now enters the start-finish straight, going wide and remaining on the left side of the track, a line that is shared with MotoGP. Just before he goes through the start-finish line, he moves to sixth gear, and the lap has begun. His head is only looking at the braking markers, and at the seventy-five-meter mark, he lifts and just lightly jabs the brake, downshifting to fifth before turning the steering wheel as smoothly and as little as pos—”

……

Amidst the chaos outside, it was complete silence for Fatih, who was in the midst of a fully focused push lap. He turned the steering wheel very little and smoothly while listening to the sound and reactions of the front tires before getting back on the power before the middle of the corner, then going to full power as the car exited, going wide and using the entire exit road, allowing him to retain as much momentum as possible.

As the car dashed towards the famous Maggots and Becketts corners, he took Maggots in sixth gear before braking heavily and downshifting to third, then taking a right turn as per the Silverstone National Circuit layout. This cut out the two famous corners, making the drivers only drive on one in a sequence of turns two, three, and four, releasing him into the Wellington straight as he started once again climbing through the gears as the straight disappeared behind him and the Brooklands and Luffield corner sequences came at him rapidly.

Just before the fifty-meter board, he started turning while in sixth gear before applying a hard initial brake of about seventy percent brake force while downshifting to fifth at the same time. He immediately peeled off the hard braking but still kept trail braking after downshifting to fourth, all the way into the apex, while keeping the car a bit wide.

As he was peeling off the brake and approaching the apex, there was a point in time where he was both off the brakes and off the throttle. The car started to slightly slide, and timing it perfectly, he immediately started applying the throttle while his steering inputs went from turning left to slightly open, which caught the rear that was starting to slide, settling the car while gaining speed through the exit of Brooklands, having at the same time used the oversteer to turn through the corner.

While hard on the gas and having already moved to fourth gear, the Luffield long right-hand hairpin finally came. He turned in really early as he aimed to apex the corner just after where the green astroturf met the curbing, while lifting from the throttle and applying gentle braking while downshifting to third gear at the same time.

He made sure to keep the braking force very gentle, as any more than that and he would start oversteering and lose time. He waited for the car to rotate until he just saw the exit, before going back to the throttle very hard and flat as he exited the corner wide and went back to fourth gear on the short straight.

He immediately took the Woodcote right-hander at full throttle while upshifting to fifth gear and, like he did during the preparation lap, he cut it to the limit, leaving only the left-side tires on the track limit markers as he exited wide onto the start-finish straight, waiting for the perfect moment before shifting to sixth gear just meters before going through the start-finish line.

……..

“TO THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN HIM PERFORM, THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE! FOR THE FIFTH TIME IN A ROW, HE SECURES A POLE POSITION TIME, SENDING HIM TO THE TOP OF THE BOARD WITH A 56.751, A WHOLE TENTH FASTER THAN THE FASTEST TIME HE SET IN BOTH FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS, AND MAKING IT LOOK EASY! HE IS ALREADY ON A PUSH FOR HIS NEXT QUALIFYING LAP, AND MOST LIKELY HIS LAST OF THIS SESSION!

IT MAKES YOU WONDER, IS IT FAIR FOR A DRIVER OF THIS CAPABILITY TO BE REQUIRED TO WAIT FOR THE MINIMUM AGE BEFORE RACING IN A SERIES THAT HE CAME TO DOMINATE, OR SHOULD THEY GIVE TALENTED ONES EXCEPTIONS TO GAIN AS MUCH EXPERIENCE AS POSSIBLE?” Justin couldn’t help but shout at the top of his lungs for the qualifying lap he had been blessed to see.

“How was the lap?” Brad asked the still highly emotional Justin.

“Millimeter perfect. Everything,” he said in a way that even a listener would know he said those words sincerely, with his eyes closed as he thought about the lap, as if he was describing his first love.

But that description didn’t seem like enough, so he continued, “Where he needed firm control, he did so. Where he needed to let the car take its course, he did. Where to cut, where to downshift, where to upshift, where to lift, where to brake, where to trail brake, everything looked perfect. I really want to open up his head and look inside to see what kind of mind could deliver these mind-breaking and perfect laps week after week…”

As Justin went on his complimentary rambling as if he was describing the hottest woman in the world, Brad just looked at him with his eyes wide, wondering what the heck his ears were hearing.