Chapter 463 - 2021 French Grand Prix | Race VIII

David Croft: "It is unbelievable the level of racecraft we are seeing from the rookie, but the runner-up and the legend are now chasing him and are in faster cars as he comes out of the final corner.

You can see that he is looking at his rear-view mirror again and again as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton throw open their DRS flaps and are now sticking behind him on the straight as Fatih tries to break the tow advantage.

It is going to be about who is braver on the brakes as Fatih returns to the racing line and Max Verstappen dives on the inside, but locks his tires for a moment as Fatih turns into the corner behind Verstappen, who barely made it into Turn 1.

The two of them come out of Turn 2 side-by-side on the straight as Lewis Hamilton is closing in on them, gaining and gaining behind their slipstream as he looks for an opening to make a move.

Verstappen tries to push Fatih into Turn 3 using his inside-line advantage, but Fatih sticks it out. They touch tires for a moment as Fatih, now having the inside line for Turn 4, does the same, but Verstappen slows down more and switches back to the inside line as they exit the corner.

But in doing so, Verstappen has handed Fatih the inside line into Turn 5 as Fatih goes into Turn 6 and runs wide, but carries more speed.

Verstappen, aware of the games Fatih is playing, slows down for a moment to not cross the DRS line ahead of Fatih, but Fatih didn’t look intent on doing any of that as he keeps his acceleration, gaining three-tenths through that small hesitation from Verstappen as they arrive at the long straight.

Verstappen, with his DRS flap open, and Hamilton, seeing an opportunity, are now barreling down the straight toward Y?ld?r?m. They are gaining and gaining on him as Fatih makes his one defensive move by moving to the inside line.

Verstappen finally moves to the outside line of the track, and he almost flies by him, but they keep side-by-side as Fatih is deploying the battery, and they arrive at the braking zone. Who is going to be brave again?

Fatih takes the gamble, braking five meters later than Verstappen, and uses his control over the racing line to go and push Verstappen wide into the Turn 8 & 9 chicane, forcing Verstappen to slow down more.

Hamilton, seeing the opening, dives on the inside line, and he is now side-by-side with Verstappen as they come out of Turn 9. They are now fighting one another as Fatih moves to the left side to give the slipstream to Verstappen before diving into Turn 10.

Verstappen, who, with the slipstream, gains a speed advantage, is forced to lift into Turn 10 due to the loss of front-end downforce as a result of the slipstream, going wide into the corner as Hamilton arrives at full throttle and takes the inside line. With his superior pace and entry angle into the corner, he makes a jump on Verstappen..."

........

{Final Lap. You have overtake and ERS for the whole lap; you are free to push,} James said on the radio as Fatih went through Turn 13.

{Leave me to it,} Fatih answered on the radio, as having to listen and understand what was being said was mental bandwidth taken away from his defensive drive against the two championship contenders while he was trying to close the gap to the lapped car ahead before crossing the DRS detection line at the entrance of Turn 14.

James didn’t even answer to say he understood as he watched Fatih coming out of Turn 15 and starting the final lap.

Everyone on the pit wall was nervous as they watched both Red Bull and Mercedes throwing everything they could at him.

The only saving grace was the DRS he gained from the soon-to-be-lapped Williams, as Fatih remained behind George Russell’s slipstream, crossing through the start-finish line before George moved to the left side of the track, having been shown blue flags.

This let him remain on the racing line while also aiding him in preventing the two monsters from trying the inside line, diving into the Turn 1 & 2 chicane and taking it with as much speed as possible as he was now extracting the final embers of life from his medium tires.

All his pace control to save the tires was in preparation for this moment as he moved through an S-line to try and break the tow of Hamilton, who was being followed by Verstappen, taking Turns 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 with unbelievable speed as he strategically used his ERS and Overtake, coming out of Turn 7 a whole seven-tenths ahead of Hamilton, who threw his DRS flap open on the straight while dumping the battery as he knew the final chances were almost closing.

...

David Croft: "This is it, this is it! Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are barreling down the long straight with their DRS flaps open for the final time.

There are no more chances; it is a make-or-break opportunity, but Fatih manages to keep the lead into the Turn 8 & 9 chicane, coming out of it back on the short straight at full throttle.

He now has only a single sector before the checkered flag will welcome him.

This has been one of the greatest defensive drives from an inferior car against two superior cars with monstrously talented drivers. As he dives into Turn 10 at full throttle, following the rubbered-in racing line, Hamilton and Verstappen are finding themselves without a response to give at the moment.

Through Turn 11 into the short straight before Turn 12, he keeps forcing the story amidst its writing to focus on him as he, in that yellow car, is creating history for his team as he now goes through the long and wide Turn13. He hasn’t put a single foot wrong throughout the race.

AlphaTauri had never won in 2021, but he changed that with his arrival at Monaco; they had never had Baku-to-Baku wins in their existence, but he changed that in Baku, and he is now at the precipice of making another previously unimaginable conclusion by making it a hat-trick, and it is going to be completed here at Paul Ricard this afternoon!

As Fatih Y?ld?r?m rounds the final corner, he sees his team cheering on the right-hand side; he sees the checkered flag, and he wins the French Grand Prix!

Lewis Hamilton, who had taken the lead on the opening lap, has to be content with P2, while the pole sitter Max Verstappen has to settle for P3.

What a race and what a valiant drive from the driver, as he drags the AlphaTauri from P5 all the way to giving them their third consecutive win, and to add on top of it, he takes with him the fastest lap on the final lap....."

.......

{YOU ARE THE MAN, YOU ARE THE MAN, YOU ARE THE MAN!} James shouted on the radio, not being able to contain his excitement.

{WELL DONE, WHAT A DRIVE! GREAT JOB, GREAT JOB!} Franz Tost got on the radio to congratulate Fatih.

{Fastest lap and, as the cherry on top of it, Driver of the Day. Good job, man, enjoy it, you deserve it,} James, now slightly composed, said as Fatih, seen from his T-cam, was pumping his fist in the air.

{Thank you for that. That took everything in me, but thank you for calling the second stop,} Fatih said as the feed showed him driving slowly while Lewis Hamilton moved side-by-side with him, giving him a thumbs-up to congratulate him on his win before overtaking him.

The same was done by Max, who congratulated him the same way, followed by George Russell, who had been lapped and had the honor to follow the trio on their final lap; as his compensation, he moved side-by-side with Fatih to congratulate him.

One after another, drivers moved side-by-side with him and congratulated him before going their way as he went around the track until he came back on the start-finish straight again, where the podium finishers had the boards placed.

Hamilton and Verstappen had already come to a stop by then, leaving an opening in the middle, which he went through before stopping in front of the P1 board.

He took a few seconds, as now he could finally let it all in and fully realize that he had made the impossible possible. He had been ready to be satisfied with just a podium position, but when the two reacted to his pit stop at the same time, a race win possibility appeared on the horizon, though he still knew it was going to be a long shot.

But thanks to Perez and Bottas, who, in an attempt to delay their opponents, ended up also delaying their own drivers, he got a few more laps of freedom, leaving only three laps to fight against those monsters, and even that took everything he had in him as he tried to fully implement what he had learned from Apollo throughout his entire life.

Had the race been extended by one more lap, he would have had nothing in his arsenal to defend against that.

As the AlphaTauri mechanics arrived at his car and placed their cooling fans in the different openings, they all tapped his helmet to congratulate him.

A cameraman providing the live feed focused on Fatih, showing him slightly opening his visor and putting in his finger, making it clear to everyone that he was crying tears of joy, prompting the director to tell him to zoom in closer, as these emotional moments were the bread and butter of the sport just as much as the on-track battles.