Chapter 438: Azerbaijan Grand Prix | The Race I

"Are you sure this is the direction you want to take things? You still have another year with them and possibly an additional one if both sides agree," Elena said once they arrived back at the hotel.

They had spent that period in silence, both to allow Fatih to think about the situation and also to prevent outsiders from hearing or seeing them talk about the matter, since it would only fuel the rumor even further.

"It doesn’t really matter how they react. At the moment, we have the power and can secure another seat easily," Fatih said as he dropped onto the sofa in his room, sounding tired.

"I understand, but at the moment, let’s wait until I update your mother and we talk about it in depth before addressing it publicly. So for now, just keep deflecting it and don’t talk to Horner or Helmut without me present. We don’t know what move they would pull," Elena said, trying to keep things as they were until a course of action was decided by her boss, Fatih’s mother.

"I don’t have the appetite to talk to them at the moment anyway," Fatih said, making it clear that on his end, he was already mourning the relationship that had been and preparing to transition to what it was going to be.

Upon hearing his answer, she placed her hand on her forehead as she knew this situation was only going to get more complicated, and depending on how things escalated from here, a contract termination or even lawsuits could become a matter of fact.

The only saving grace was that their side had enough ammunition to fight the other side, though she didn’t know how long they could sustain that. After all, she wasn’t sure what the net worth of her employer was, or where the money was coming from in the first place.

As she was in the middle of thinking about the matter, Fatih’s phone in Elena’s hands rang, and the caller was his mother. She immediately handed the phone she had received from Alex to Fatih, who immediately accepted the call and started talking with his mother, bringing her up to date with the situation and everything he had thought from the time he received the question from the reporter until now.

"We will look further into those things," was the response that came from his mother, and Elena finally saw a smile on Fatih’s face, which immediately disappeared once the next question was asked.

"What about the matter of promotion if you win tomorrow?" his mother asked him, sounding more confident that he could win than anyone else Elena had heard talking about the possibility.

"I mean, the contract says if both sides agree, we can delay the promotion. So will you be delaying it, or still going for the promotion if you win tomorrow?" she elaborated, making it clear what she was curious about.

"I will be going for the promotion immediately. I don’t care what is good for them; if I’m in that car, I’m confident in taking the fight for the championship, so I would be foolish to delay it when it will benefit Max," Fatih said, making it clear and without any reservation that he didn’t care about the team’s conditions or anything and only cared about his championship-winning possibility.

Elena looked at Fatih with surprise, as it seemed to him that the championship that everyone else believed was going to be a fight between Max and Lewis was still open for him to put himself on the table and have a chance of winning.

For a moment, she wondered if it was arrogance or confidence, but she didn’t choose between those two, deciding to wait and see for herself because it was all based on his winning the race tomorrow against Mercedes, who was in front of him and believed to have a better race pace than their qualifying one, and Verstappen, who would be on his rear at the race start, making her believe the chances of that happening were very slim.

......

The Formula 1 paddock and fans had a very lively night, as the F1 side of social media was awake for the entire night.

Article after article kept coming out, some adding factual information, some speculation, some talking about the private agreement, and others talking about the fight that happened in the room, having received information from mechanics on the team who witnessed Fatih entering and coming out shortly after with the two team principals, and Helmut coming out a few minutes later. It was clear to everyone, and an article made the situation very succinctly clear: CIVIL WAR AT RED BULL.

The fight that started as two sides of fans arguing to defend their driver and defame the other immediately turned into a war of name-calling, country-calling, and, for some, even religious calling, as some fans from the Verstappen camp labeled Fatih a terrorist, while those on Fatih’s side focused on Verstappen’s relationship with his partner and father and the abuse he faced from him.

With those two expected to start on the second row side-by-side, nothing could have been done to calm the situation down, and surprisingly, the two sides, along with Red Bull, remained silent about the situation because they didn’t have a unified action plan.

The two drivers whose respective fans were in the middle of fighting a civil war while the neutrals either enjoyed the fight or joined in on the fun were in the middle of having a nice night’s sleep in preparation for the next day, while Fatih was in the simulation, practicing for the final time in preparation for the race tomorrow.

........

[[[

[WAR AGAINST THE FATHERLAND]

What you considered to be a home turned out to be...

MILESTONE.

Milestone 1: Win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Milestone 2: Finish ten races ahead of a Red Bull.

Milestone 3: Overtake a Red Bull.

REWARD.

Milestone 1 Completion Reward: 1000 SP

Milestone 2 Completion Reward: Hypervigilance and Racecraft will upgrade by 1 level every time you are in a fight against a Red Bull.

Milestone 3 Completion Reward: 10 SP for every overtake.

PUNISHMENT.

Punishment for Milestone 1 Failure: -1000 SP

Punishment for Milestone 2 Failure:Hypervigilance and Racecraft will downgrade by 1 level every time you are in a fight against a Red Bull.

Punishment for Milestone 3 Failure: -10 SP for every overtake against you.

*This status for Milestone 2 Failure can only be removed by completing a future, far more difficult, redemption mission against Oracle Red Bull.*

]]]

Fatih silently looked at the system mission in front of him that had appeared since he left the meeting room after his "conversation" with Helmut and Horner, and finally took a look at it once he entered the simulation.

Upon thinking about it for a few seconds, he pressed [YES], confident in achieving all of the mission’s required milestones. After all, it was not both Red Bulls but just one of them, meaning even if he moved to Red Bull, he could accomplish it by just beating Verstappen, and if he didn’t move, he could accomplish it by beating Perez.

But also because he wanted to have the rewards that would make him a nemesis against Red Bull every time he faced them in the future, since he was not going to be a part of them for long.

"Now let’s do one final practice for tomorrow," Fatih said before Apollo snapped his fingers, and both of them found themselves on the grid, preparing to do a practice start that they would repeat multiple times, with Apollo emulating different drivers before moving to a full race simulation and overcut and undercut practice.

Having accepted the mission that required him to win tomorrow’s race, he was not planning on losing 1000 SP from the get-go, so he needed to make sure all the bases that he had already covered were covered for a second time.

......

"Summer is here, and the time is right to go racing in the streets. Welcome along to the Baku City Circuit for the fifth World Championship Grand Prix to take place at this 3.7-mile track.

It is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, round six in this 2021 season, a season with a difference because for the first time since the end of 2013, Red Bull leads the drivers’ championship. We’re located 28 meters below sea level.

Red Bull is flying high at the moment; Mercedes is trying to get back that championship lead that they have held since they won the German Grand Prix in 2018.

This circuit is one of six anti-clockwise tracks on the calendar in 2021. It’s got 20 corners, 12 to the left and 8 to the right. It’s got 70 gear changes per lap and 2 DRS zones, and you take your lap at full throttle for 77% of that lap.

Overtaking chances are pretty much everywhere. Turn 1 in 2018 saw the end of Red Bull in that race. Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen were scrapping it out for fourth place before Ricciardo crashed into his teammate, and both were out..." David Croft started his pre-race monologue, going along with the intro sequence on the live broadcast.

"We’ve got different tire compounds, too. It’s the softest in the Pirelli range, the same one used in Monaco two weeks ago. The C5, C4, and C3 are one step softer than we had last time we were here. The hard tire is said to be the best race tire for this afternoon’s Grand Prix, with 51 laps to come.

It is Charles Leclerc on pole after a disappointing end to Monaco, with Lewis Hamilton second on the grid for a third consecutive race here in Azerbaijan. Third on the grid is Fatih Yıldırım, the rookie’s lowest qualifying position ever in his career, with Verstappen accompanying him in fourth, matching the highest position he has ever qualified here.

Pierre Gasly takes the fifth position for AlphaTauri this year, completing the AlphaTauri on Red Bull sandwich, as Carlos joins him on the third row in P6 after ending Q3 on the barrier. It is finally the second Red Bull, which at the moment is the lowest of the four Red Bull cars, Sergio Perez in P7 alongside Fernando Alonso in P8, who for the first time makes it to Q3 here in Baku.

Lando Norris starts in P9 after getting a three-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags, and completing the top ten with him is Valtteri Bottas, at his worst ever in Mercedes qualifying on pure pace..."

The screen then followed, showing Sebastian Vettel in P11, Esteban Ocon in P12, Daniel Ricciardo in P13, Kimi Räikkönen in P14, and George Russell in P15, keeping his streak of making it to Q2 at 100%, with Latifi in P16, Mick Schumacher in P17, Nikita Mazepin in P18, Lance Stroll in P19, and finally, Antonio Giovinazzi in P20.

"The time for talking the talk is over; it is time for walking the walk, as Fatih and his teammate, who at the moment are finding themselves amidst a civil war per the rumors, are starting next to one another. The run to Turn 1 is going to be interesting," Martin Brundle chimed in as the live feed showed Fatih in a zoomed-in position before slowly zooming out until Verstappen was in full view, side-by-side with Fatih.