Formula 1: The GOAT

“Despite his valiant effort and gaining more than a second per lap, the safety car or incident that would bunch up everyone never comes for Fatih. For the first time in his single-seater career, he is met with a pointless weekend as his championship counterpart, KIERN JEWISS, GOES THROUGH THE CHECKERED FLAG AND EXTENDS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD BY TWENTY-FIVE POINTS! A FIRST REVERSAL SINCE FATIH’S RETURN AFTER BLEEDING POINTS AND LEADING FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE WEEKS!

AND THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE NIGHTMARE, AS JONATHAN HOGGARD, THE DRIVER HE HAD TERRORIZED ON HIS SECOND RETURN RACE, FINISHED ON THE LAST PODIUM POSITION AND NOW ONCE AGAIN OVERTAKES HIM IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS, MOVING INTO SECOND POSITION! IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR DENIS HAUGER KEEPING SECOND PLACE!

IT IS HIS WORST FINISH, AND A WEEKEND HE WILL MOST DEFINITELY WANT TO FORGET! THE ONLY POSITIVE THING HE CAN CLAIM FROM HERE IS DENYING JEWISS OR ANYONE IN A POINTS POSITION A POINT FOR THE FASTEST LAP, WHICH HE NOW HOLDS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE TOP TEN FASTEST LAPS, WITH NO ONE ELSE COMING CLOSE!” Justin, despite being a fan of Fatih, commented on the race’s finishing positions with enthusiasm.

“I blame you for it,” Brad said as Fatih finally went through the start-finish line, finishing last, two seconds behind the last car, having reduced a twenty-second gap to two seconds by the final lap.

“Why?” Justin asked, surprised.

“During the qualifying session, I specifically said you were taunting fate when you said, ’I don’t see many ways that he doesn’t come out on top of the championship table at the end of this weekend.’ Now look at how this weekend has started for him, as it has practically removed all chance of him taking the lead without the other two drivers performing worse than usual,” Brad said in a very amused tone as he reminded Justin of what he had said a few hours ago during the qualifying session.

“Well, if that is the case, then I would like to apologize to Fatih,” he said, playing along with the bit before he added, “And unfortunately, this is not the end of his nightmare, as he is going to start the second race from the last position, as it is determined by where drivers finished in the first race. It will also be another first for Fatih, having already achieved finishing in last place.”

As Justin talked back and forth while showing the top three cars stopping in front of the signboards with their positions, the feed finally switched to show Fatih’s car entering the pit lane and stopping in an area he had never used before. Even after coming to a stop, he didn’t get out of the car, his hands remaining on the steering wheel while he looked straight forward.

“It has to be a devastating blow to him. He, just like every one of us, was already confident in his ability to take the lead, but this is the situation he finds himself in. It has to sting, and he has done everything he could to reverse that, but none of it worked,” Justin said as the TV director seemed to want more content. The camera feed currently showing started getting closer and closer to Fatih’s car until his visor was visible, showing that he had his eyes closed. Moments later, he removed one hand from the steering wheel to open the visor before opening his eyes and looking directly at the camera, which was very close.

He just raised his hand and covered the lens, pushing it back, which the TV director immediately changed to another angle, still pointed at Fatih, who finally got out of the car and gave a weird look to the cameraman before walking away. He was met by Alex, who was rushing in his direction with a bottle of water and a towel in hand, as they continued back to the garage while the mechanics went to collect the car.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be seen like that either,” Brad said just as Fatih disappeared from the camera view into the garage before the feed finally changed to focus on the podium finishers. Immediately, Brad asked, “Where do you think he will finish tomorrow in race two?”

“A minimum of a podium position.”

“How so?”

“Well, the pace he showed during the chase is undeniable. If he were in a bunched-up group, he would have done numbers with that pace alone, even if we don’t take into consideration the wheel-to-wheel driving capabilities he has shown us glimpses of when he was sent to P8 during a grid reversal.”

“I’m really looking forward to that, and this time there are twenty-one laps, so he has enough distance and time to do it with ease and without rushing.”

……

“Please check the front suspension. I felt a weird vibration creeping in more and more with each new lap I pushed,” Fatih said during the debriefing session, which started the moment Hauger returned from the podium celebration, still smelling of the alcohol-free champagne.

“It is most likely due to overdriving the car,” the performance engineer said as a response, causing everyone to look at him before he continued. “As you already know, the Silverstone track, in the national circuit layout, with corners like Copse, requires drivers to ’abuse’ the curbs to find lap time. Pair that with the lap being so short, the suspensions never rest, and it is the same with the tires and components, which are always under constant, rapid-fire loading. Pair that with aero loads, and you are pushing all of those things to the edge; the new behavior is normal in those situations.”

“I understand that, but still please take a look at it before tomorrow’s race, because I will be pushing it like I did today,” Fatih said, not planning to argue about the reason, making it clear it was a preventative check, not because there was a definite problem.

“Okay, let’s add that to the list of things to address,” the team principal said as they immediately moved to the next matter.

While the debriefing continued, Lisa, Fatih’s chief mechanic, kept looking at him, wondering if there was really merit to his worry, which, compared to his previous calls, was definitely something they needed to check, or if he was just trying to find something to justify his last-place finish. But to her, it didn’t matter, as once again, Fatih had increased their workload.