Chapter 443: Azerbaijan Grand Prix | The Race VI

"YEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The tension on the AlphaTauri pitwall finally released, and James couldn’t help but shout amidst all of the excitement.

When Fatih took the lead in the opening laps, they couldn’t celebrate since their gamble required something outside of their control to happen in order to guarantee them the win, but now everything they had hoped for had happened, so the only thing remaining was for Fatih to bring the car home.

The mechanics in the garage, on the other hand, didn’t care about decorum like some of those on the pitwall, as they jumped up and down, cheering as they now saw the possibility of their team securing back-to-back wins after pulling off a strategic masterclass.

For a team that everyone expected to be nothing but midfield year in and year out due to its weird circumstances, the opportunity of doubling their team’s total race wins in a two-week period was not something they had ever imagined, but here it was, and they had no intention of holding back. After all, at the end of lap 37, Fatih was already outside of the DRS range, opening a gap between him and Verstappen over the duration of a single lap.

Lap 37: +1.780s

Lap 38: +3.120s

Lap 39: +4.550s

Lap 40: +5.880s

"We are seeing a time difference that is not normal at all, but it is all within the realms of possibility if you take into consideration the circumstances. Fatih is on a brand-new compound and with what many speculate to be a 15kg, if not more, lighter car, giving him an already very fast car.

But at the same time, all other cars in the top ten are on a hard compound that, at the moment for some, has been driven for thirty laps and, coming from a safety car restart, is taking time to get back up to temperature.

As a result, Fatih Y?ld?r?m is now able to increase his gap by more than a second each lap, and no one is capable of responding to it at the moment," Martin Brundle broke down how such a gap could be opened by a midfield car against the top end of the field.

David Croft finally resumed, "With Verstappen and Perez on the remaining two podium positions, you might think they can relax, but they don’t have that luxury, as Perez is having to push to keep Hamilton, who wants a podium or a run against Verstappen, at bay, and Verstappen has to do the same to not bog down Perez. So those three are now pushing with everything they have while the race leader is effortlessly opening the gap ahead of them as they fight among one another."

As laps went on, the gap against Fatih showed no sign of stabilizing at all but rather continued increasing at a similar pace.

Lap 41: +7.150s

Lap 42: +8.450s

Lap 43: +9.700s

Lap 44: +10.920s

Lap 45: +12.100s

By lap 45, Fatih was already more than 12 seconds ahead of Max in P2, and the moment he started lap 46, he finally slowed down, as he expected something to happen.

"Things can go all the way to the line here, as it happened with Bottas and Stroll here in 2017, BUT MAX VERSTAPPEN WON’T BE AMONG THOSE WHO CROSS THE FINISH LINE, AS HE HAS CRASHED ON THE START-FINISH STRAIGHT, HITTING THE WALL AGGRESSIVELY!

PEREZ AND HAMILTON NARROWLY AVOID HIM, AND THAT IS A BIG CRASH! IT SEEMS TO BE THE SAME LEFT REAR THAT FATIH HAD PREVIOUSLY COMPLAINED ABOUT AND FORCED HIS TEAM’S HANDS INTO CHANGING. THE DECISION IS PROVING RIGHT FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS RACE WEEKEND.

AS MAX VERSTAPPEN, WHO WAS TO TAKE THE LEAD OF THE DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AND HAND RED BULL THE LEAD IN BOTH THE DRIVER AND CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS HAD HE FINISHED IN P2, IS GOING TO END UP WITH ZERO POINTS, WHILE HIS RIVAL LEWIS HAMILTON IS PROMOTED TO THE FINAL PODIUM POSITION AND IS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIDEN THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT GAP.

THE RACE COULDN’T HAVE BEEN ANY MORE DRAMATIC WITH THE SAFETY CAR OUT FOR THE SECOND TIME, BUT THIS TIME IT KILLS THE BENEFIT ALPHATAURI HAD MANAGED TO CARVE FOR THEMSELVES, AS THE TWELVE-SECOND GAP IS ERASED."

"The safety car giveth and taketh away," Brundle joked when the feed showed that Verstappen was okay and even in good shape to kick the rear tire that had been the cause of the crash.

The feed then changed from Verstappen kicking the rear-left tire on his car to showing Horner rubbing his eyes with his left hand. Everyone seeing it thought it was him feeling sad for the loss of points Max needed very much, but no one could imagine that although that was true, the majority of the stress was that this safety car had done nothing but guarantee the race win for Fatih, since there was a chance the race could end under the safety car.

The cars followed the safety car for two laps before, finally, a red flag was called.

"And the red flag has now come out, and the race is now going to stop on lap 48 of 51. Race control and Michael Masi have decided it’s better to suspend the race and do a proper job of sweeping up all the debris than to rush it and have the cars going through the pit lane."

As the commentators announced the red flag, the bunched-up cars followed the safety car into the pit lane for the second time, but this time they came to a stop at the end of the pit lane in a line with Fatih at the forefront.

The moment he came to a stop, the AlphaTauri mechanics rushed to his car with leaf blowers that were modified to blow air chilled by dry ice to allow the engine to cool down while also blanketing the tires to make sure they retained their temperature. Fatih removed his seatbelt and got out of the car, returning to the garage, taking one of the mechanic’s chairs, and resting on it before finally taking off his helmet to breathe fresher air.

This race, with all the advantages he had, had been a very tiring one for him since he was worried something might not go the same way it did, and he would be correct in that assumption, as although the major things happened, the second safety car crash happened for a different reason than the one in his previous life.

This one happened because Max was trying to open the gap to not bog Perez down, while in his previous life, it had happened when he was trying to open the gap to Perez and go for the fastest lap point as well.

...

"We have ten minutes before the restart," James said as he tapped Fatih on the shoulder for him to put on the balaclava and helmet and get back into the car. He had accompanied him for the time that passed during the red flag, but they didn’t talk much about anything as Fatih was resting his mind in preparation for the upcoming race start.

He had expected someone from Red Bull to come and put pressure on him to not go for the win in order for them to not be required to promote him.

Although that sounded too villainous at the moment, he expected everything from them, since all of the trust he had in them was now gone and he considered nothing to be beneath them. But thankfully, no one did, or else he didn’t know how he would have reacted to it.

He immediately stood and put on his headgear before finally heading back to his car. Lisa helped him with his seatbelt and, keeping up with the tradition, tapped his helmet and wished him luck once she was done.

{Radio check?} James asked.

{Loud and clear.}

{It will be a standing start, and considering the formation lap, it is going to be a two-lap shootout. You currently have a brand-new soft compound, and in the top six, only you and Vettel have that; everyone else has scrubbed softs....} James provided him with an update on the situation with other drivers he could use as context and keep in mind during the two-lap shootout.

While he was being updated about that, Hamilton was in the middle of motivating himself and the team on the radio. {You have got to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint, so we’ve got to be measured in how aggressive we go.}

{Copy that, Lewis,} Bono answered, going along with it.

{Absolutely agree, Lewis,} Toto said, joining in on the fun as well.

In the midst of Mercedes motivating one another, Red Bull was also having a conversation of their own, but for them, Perez was being updated on the situation of the cars in his surroundings and nothing about beating Fatih.

This was not because they had nothing to talk about regarding that matter, but because everything had already been discussed outside the car. The people Fatih had expected to come and try to talk to him had instead opted for the option to talk to Sergio Perez, the driver with the most to lose in the current situation. As he sat in the car, he fully understood what he needed to do, and he had no plan on hesitating.