Chapter 422: FIA Press Conference

"Please, please, and for the love of God, just follow the talking points and don’t deviate from them. We have yet to deal with the previous interview, and it was done in Turkish. If you do it again in an English press conference, we won’t have a way of resolving it easily.

We might lose some sponsorships because of the image we will be creating. Do you understand me?" Eve said in a tone completely different to the one she had used all day, almost begging.

She kept reminding him again and again as they walked in the direction where the FIA post-qualifying press conference was to be held, flanked by security who were keeping the media away from them.

To her, if begging was going to solve or prevent the problem, she was ready to do it hundreds of times, as it was easier to do that than deal with the aftermath of a driver going rogue and making an enemy out of a giant like Ferrari.

Many of their sponsors might choose to distance themselves from the team so as not to be caught in the crossfire, which was something they wanted to fully avoid.

"I understood you from the first time you asked me. You don’t have to repeat yourself," Fatih said with a neutral expression before smiling for a moment.

Although he answered her, inside his mind, completely different calculations were taking place as he focused on the system screens hovering in front of him.

[[[[

[SITUATIONAL MISSION: WAR AGAINST FERRARI]

They consider themselves to be the greatest team in Formula 1, and with that belief, they have grown arrogant. Instead of waiting for conclusive evidence, they immediately jumped to accusing you of being a cheater and called into question your entire thirteen years of blood, sweat, and hard work to reach where you are. Will you let them get away with it, or will you return the disrespect and insult back to them with your performance on track?

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES (SEASON-LONG):

Assert Superiority: Finish ahead of BOTH Ferrari drivers in any race. [+25 SP]

Qualifying Dominance: Out-qualify BOTH Ferrari drivers. [+15 SP]

Ultimate Insult: Lap a Ferrari car during a race. [+250 SP]

PENALTY FOR FAILURE:

Finishing behind BOTH Ferraris: [-25 SP]

Get Out-Qualified by BOTH Ferraris: [-15 SP]

Get lapped by a Ferrari car: [-250 SP]

]]]]

[[[[

[SITUATIONAL MISSION: CONQUEST OF THE HEARTLAND]

Beating them on track is good, but is that enough for those who disrespected everything you stood up for? For those who called the effort put in by your mother, grandmother, father, Red Bull, and everyone else into question by wanting to taint it with cheating allegations, is beating them race by race enough? No, it is not.

GRAND OBJECTIVE: Finish the 2021 season with more individual driver points than the entire Scuderia Ferrari Constructors’ Team.

GRAND REWARD: Upon completion, you will unlock the permanent race-specific BUFF: [THE DESECRATOR’S DOMINION]

[THE DESECRATOR’S DOMINION]

Effect: Guaranteed [ZONE] activation during any session held on Italian soil for the remainder of your career. Their home ground is now the stage for your domination.

PENALTY FOR FAILURE:

Condition: You fail to achieve the Grand Objective.

Penalty: By agreeing to challenge the heart of the Tifosi but failing to live up to it, there has to be an equal punishment for not living up to the agreed wager.

Effect 1: ZONE Lockout. The [ZONE] ability can never be activated during any session held on Italian soil. The Italian grounds will reject you and will now be a place reminding you of your failure.

Effect 2: Invictus Downgrade. When racing in Italy, [Invictus (Limit Break)] will be downgraded to [Invictus (Ultimate)].

***This status can only be removed by completing a future, far more difficult, redemption mission against Scuderia Ferrari.***

]]]]

Both missions had a very enticing reward but also an equal, if not worse, punishment for failing to live up to it. It was the reason he had yet to make his decision on going ahead with both of them, because he didn’t know how it would be treated if he failed to achieve them due to something out of his control.

He planned to wait until he logged into the simulation to ask additional questions, but he was leaning heavily toward accepting them, as the rewards were very enticing.

"I can’t fully trust anything you are saying at the moment, since despite receiving media training, you still lost control. But keep in mind, this is an FIA event, and they have a moderator who will interrupt you if you go beyond a certain level.

So if he stops you, don’t fight and try to continue with what you are saying. Even more, I will be standing where you can see me, so please, when answering the questions, continue looking at me and stop when I shake my head, understood?" Eve added, still at it.

"I understand. I will not curse like I accidentally did, and I will think about my answers before giving them," Fatih said as they finally arrived at the glass door he had gone through on Wednesday for his first FIA press conference.

.....

"They really are out for you," Max said as he looked at where Fatih was made to sit. Due to COVID protocols, the drivers sat in separate chairs, unlike in the past where they sat on a large single sofa. This also allowed them to place the drivers strategically, and as a result, Fatih was placed in the middle, flanked by Charles on his right and Max on his left, making it clear to anyone that he was going to be the main focus of the press conference.

"I had to get used to it one way or another anyway," Fatih answered as he removed his mask and adjusted his team cap, making sure he looked good while deliberately ignoring the room full of reporters who were looking at him with hunger in their eyes, ready to dive at him immediately but holding themselves back, waiting for the moderator to officially start the press conference. A few minutes later, their wish came true.

"A dramatic qualifying session with multiple records being set. We will start with the pole-sitter. Fatih, congratulations. You now have the record for the youngest pole-sitter, the first sub-70-second lap at Monaco on your debut. Can you even begin to put into words what you are feeling right now?" Tom Clarkson, the veteran journalist and the FIA press conference moderator, said, opening the session.

Fatih took a short, calm breath before making direct eye contact with Tom, waiting for a few seconds before he finally answered, his voice filled with sincere emotion. "Thank you. Right now, it’s... overwhelming in the best way.

For my years of hard work to be rewarded with a historic performance is nothing but filled with excitement and gratitude for everything. The car was on the limit, the track was perfect, and I’m just happy and grateful to be able to put together the perfect lap of my Formula 1 career and have it count in that way."

He completely ignored the giant elephant in the room regarding that lap. He was not planning on being the one to address it before someone else asked, or else Eve might have a heart attack. At the moment, she was breathing a sigh of relief as he avoided it.

With his answer given, Tom finally opened it to a reporter he selected from the room, where all the reporters had raised their arms when it was time to choose who would ask him a question.

A reporter from Sky Sports F1 was selected, and he immediately jumped into his question. "Fatih, your lap was immediately protested by Ferrari for the use of illegal driver aids. The FIA is still investigating the matter at the moment.

What do you have to say as a reaction to a rival team immediately attempting to disqualify your historic achievement on technical grounds? And what do you have to say about your emotional outburst upon learning about it during your interview?"

As the question was being asked, Fatih couldn’t help but pinch his nose bridge as he slowly turned to where Eve was. The moment they made eye contact, she started shaking her head while putting her hand in an X shape, making it clear that he should not answer.

When he turned left, he saw Max with an amused smile on his face, and on his right, Charles was currently not looking in his direction at all and was fully focused on looking ahead.

He was silent for a few seconds after the full question was asked as he contemplated how to answer it before he said, "My emotional reaction was something done in the heat of the moment.

Because in a sport where everyone pushes themselves to the limit to try and gain every possible advantage, either through data, the setup, or from the driver’s commitment, when you see an exceptional performance, the first instinct should be to analyze how that performance was delivered and try to see where time was gained and how you could do the same. At least, that is what I saw within my team."

He paused for a moment as he let his answer breathe before he continued, "To look at what was achieved and immediately jump to an accusation of illegality... it perhaps gives you an insight into the mindset, and the kind of technical solutions, being explored elsewhere in the paddock."

The moment he finished saying that, the room felt like a bomb had been detonated based on how everyone reacted.

Max Verstappen had paused for a moment as if he were digesting what he had heard, and a moment later, a smirk appeared on his face before it vanished immediately as he looked down at the table, trying to hide his amusement. He had recognized Fatih’s answer as falling within the Red Bull-esque, confrontational style and enjoyed seeing someone else being put on the back foot.

For Charles, on the other hand, the only thing he could do was tighten his jaw while still staring ahead, trying not to give any reaction to his team being accused in the midst of Fatih’s subtle jab. He not only defended himself but also insinuated that Ferrari only thought of cheating because they might be exploring it themselves. Having just started recovering from the cheating allegations that they had to settle with the FIA, being reminded of it was not a good experience at all.

Eve, on the other hand, didn’t know how to react. Fatih hadn’t done anything out of hand, but he had still put Ferrari in the middle of attention, albeit not directly and with full plausible deniability in his words.

She started wondering where this aggressiveness had come from, momentarily forgetting that these were people who lived their lives focused on one thing and one thing only, and not thinking about how being accused of cheating to do that thing would feel for a driver who had dedicated his life to it.

Fatih had no intention of remaining silent at all, but at the same time, he didn’t want to needlessly give Ferrari ammo to use against him more than they already had, so the only option was to do it while fully using plausible deniability.