Chapter 415: Qualifying in Monaco VI

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final part of the qualifying session has arrived, and everyone in the session is rushing out of the garages to set a banker lap for themselves as early as possible as insurance for any possible red flag," David Croft commented as the cable cam feed followed the cars across the fast lane as they headed to the track behind one another, pacing themselves to open a gap and not interfere with one another.

However, unexpectedly, the camera that was moving along with the cars leaving the garage paused mid-movement as it turned to the right, coming to a stop in front of the AlphaTauri garage. It showed Fatih’s car still inside, with the mechanics working on it while it was raised with no tires on, making it clear that they were not yet ready to leave.

"Okay, now that is surprising, as Fatih remains in the garage, becoming the only driver who remains there, as everyone else is already on the track in the middle of their warm-up lap, preparing for a banker lap.

I wonder if it is a gamble or if they are still solving a technical issue, but they have twelve minutes to come up with a solution if it is one.

His teammate, Pierre Gasly, is going through the final turn into the start-finish straight and starts his push lap. We also have Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes, Lando Norris for McLaren, who have the record for most pole positions on this track, one more than Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, who has never been beaten by a teammate in qualifying here in Monaco, and Valtteri Bottas, who has been on the front row but a few hundredths from pole.

Then we have Leclerc and Verstappen as well. This is going to be an epic ten minutes to come as Verstappen is on his way," Croft continued, giving the viewers details and raising the excitement by providing context.

"Crofty, I just received a response from AlphaTauri, and they said it is not a mechanical problem, though they will not tell me why he is still in the garage," Ted Kravitz chimed in, providing an answer to the question Croft had raised.

"They are all on brand-new tires, as they all have two sets of them except for Fatih, who has only a single new soft compound at the moment, to the point he had to go through Q2 using the medium compound through a monstrous lap from him," Martin Brundle gave his theory as to why Fatih remained in the garage while everyone else was out.

"Ooh, what a middle sector that was," Croft said, changing the topic to what the screen was showing: Charles Leclerc in the middle of his qualifying lap.

"Neat and tidy, as so often happens. You don’t have to wring its neck, and sometimes all you need is to be in the groove."

"Seven poles in his career for Charles Leclerc, and what a special pole this would be as he comes to the line, crosses it, AND MOVES FASTEST OVERALL! ONE-TEN-THREE! NO TIME TO CELEBRATE YET, SEVEN AND A HALF MINUTES TO GO IN THIS SESSION!

ACROSS THE LINE NEXT, CARLOS SAINZ, WHO HAD ACED THE MIDDLE SECTOR BUT LOST OUT TO HIS TEAMMATE AS HE GOES THIRD FASTEST! LEWIS HAMILTON ONLY FIFTH FASTEST ON HIS FIRST RUN, AND SERGIO PEREZ JUST BEHIND HIM IN SIXTH!"

"Seven-tenths off the pace for Hamilton. Sainz goes a little bit wide on the last corner, so he is missing two-tenths on Leclerc. So it does look as if it is going to be between the two Ferraris and Hamilton, as Fatih Yıldırım is finally on the track, going around on his warm-up lap," Brundle said, focusing on the pace gap between the cars they had expected to be fighting for pole, which had now been narrowed down to just three of them.

"That is a good lap from Lando Norris there, using all of his Monaco experience to go seventh now as Pierre Gasly pops up as fifth fastest."

"Two personal bests for Bottas, and a little bit wide in Rascasse. Has it hurt him as he drives to the line? He goes third, and as a result, three different teams in the top three. We know that Bottas and Sainz have got some more time to come, and Verstappen has got to pull out more time than that if he wants to take pole.

The teams decided on a different run in the first half of the qualifying session, as Lando Norris crosses the line and goes fifth fastest in that beautiful realtor livery. So, at the moment, with Norris slotting into fifth, Hamilton only seventh on the grid, and Verstappen second, how significant could that be in the championship?"

"Absolutely. The world championship leader is P7 behind Gasly in the AlphaTauri, along with Norris in the McLaren for good measure. They, of course, have another run yet, but three-quarters of a second behind for Lewis, who has been consistently struggling."

Their commentary slowly started calming down as the majority of the cars started returning to the pit lane for both refueling and tire changes, emptying the track until the feed changed to showing Fatih on the final approach, sending them to the top of excitement as they got their energy back.

"AS EVERYONE ELSE IS RETURNING TO THE PIT LANE, EMPTYING THE TRACK, FATIH AND THE TEAM HAVE TIMED IT PERFECTLY FOR HIS FIRST LAP AROUND THE TRACK! WITH FOUR MINUTES ON THE CLOCK AND AN EMPTY TRACK, FATIH STARTS HIS LAP AROUND THE TRACK..." David Croft shouted as Fatih went through the start-finish straight with the DRS fully open.

....

{"Track is clear, brakes at optimal conditions, battery full, and tire temperature is perfect. At the final corner, we switch to Strat 1, and you can go all out,"} James said on the radio, giving Fatih updates on the car’s conditions.

However, Fatih couldn’t even hear what he was saying, as his entire focus was currently on what was coming, and his brain filtered everything outside that, including the team radio. But despite that, he already knew that the car was in optimal condition, having made sure to make it so for two full laps in preparation for the push lap.

As he went out of the final corner, he got back on power and immediately opened the DRS the moment he passed the activation line, going up through the gears on the start-finish straight.

He retained his full focus in the midst of acceleration as he focused on the upcoming braking point into Turn 1, doing so as late as possible and using the perfect amount of brake pressure, slowing the car just enough to turn and nothing less or more as he started turning the steering wheel, letting the heavily loaded and very sensitive front end respond to it, actively going wide on exit until almost touching the barriers on the left side while he was already back on power as he started the uphill climb.

With the track empty, he fully committed on every part of the drive, not leaving a single bit of performance on the track as he made sure to push everything to the limit of the gap at every part he went through, making sure to put every part of his Monaco experience to work.

At the arrival and entry to Casino Square, he went through it with the maximum possible speed and in the fastest way possible around the area before braking heavily for Mirabeau Haute, taking the right-hander tightly as he followed the falling elevation into the Grand Hotel Hairpin.

.......

"Yes, it is disappointing to perfo... OOH, MY GOD!" Daniel Ricciardo, who was having his post-session interview following his exit in Q2, paused answering his question, reacting to the lap Fatih was driving, visible from the massive screen behind the reporters.

It was not only him, but every other driver who was in the media pen for their post-session interviews seemed to have paused answering their questions as they all focused on the lap that was being broadcast on the screen, as it was very clear to anyone that a very incredible lap was in the middle of being delivered, with the purple in Sector 1 being evidence of it.

.......

"A PURPLE IN THE FIRST SECTOR FROM FATIH! AND HE IS WRINGING THAT CAR AROUND MONACO AS IF IT OWES HIM MONEY! AS HE TAKES THE PORTIER, HE STRAIGHTENS THE CAR AS HE DIVES INTO THE TUNNEL!

HE IS ALREADY DELIVERING AN INCREDIBLE PACE FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE SESSION! NOW HE HAS TO KEEP UP WITH THE MOMENTUM AS HE COMES OUT OF THE TUNNEL, DOWNHILL TO THE MOST IMPORTANT BRAKING ZONE OF THE TRACK! AND HE KEEPS UP WITH THE IMPROVEMENT AS HE SETS ANOTHER PURPLE SECTOR!

HE LEAVES IT AS LATE AS POSSIBLE BEFORE HE BRAKES AND TURNS THE CAR INTO THE NOUVELLE CHICANE! HE DOESN’T LEAVE ANY MARGIN ON THE TABLE DESPITE NOT HAVING A BANKER LAP ONBOARD! HE IS GIVING IT HIS EVERYTHING, GOING THROUGH TABAC, GOING TO THE RIGHT SIDE BEFORE DIVING INTO THE SWIMMING POOL CHICANE AS IF IT IS A STRAIGHT!

AND WOW, HE TOUCHES THE BARRIER AT THE ENTRY OF PISCINE! WE ARE WITNESSING A MAGICAL LAP FROM A ROOKIE AS HE IS NOW ON THE FINAL PART OF THIS LAP!

HE MISSED THE APEX INTO LA RASCASSE TO PREPARE FOR ANTHONY NOGHÈS, AND HE DOESN’T SEEM TO WANT TO PULL BACK; HE BARELY MISSED THE WALL AS HE OPENED THE DRS FLAP WIDE!

AND HE NOW DRAGS THE CAR ON THE START-FINISH STRAIGHT, SHORTENING THE STRAIGHT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND CROSSES THE LINE..."