Formula 1: The GOAT

“Any improvements on the track?” Steve asked the moment Fatih took a seat in the tent, waiting for the rest of the group to join them for the post-qualifying debrief.

“The track has only improved between two-tenths and a quarter of a second from the initial pace,” Fatih said as a side remark, placing his helmet on the table before bending down to pick a water bottle from the carton underneath.

When no one said anything, the room fell into what could only be described as an unnatural silence. He raised his head, peeking above the table to see what was going on. Everyone was staring at him with looks of utter surprise.

“What have I done?” he asked, his eyes scanning the room for clues.

“Did Burak tell you about it?” John asked, looking down at his notes.

“I was here the whole time preparing for this debrief,” Burak answered instead of Fatih, causing everyone to turn back to Fatih, their surprise undiminished.

“Where did you get that number from? Did you guess it or something?” Steve asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

“No, I was counting in my mind during the session,” Fatih answered bluntly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Why do you enjoy messing with people?” Apollo asked amidst a fit of laughter, looking at the deer-in-the-headlights reaction from the others.

“I have to squeeze everything from the system if I’m going to be using it,” Fatih answered him, enjoying the looks on their faces but maintaining an innocent expression. “Plus, it increases the reason for them to trust my hunches if I show I have the mental capacity to think about things like these during a session.”

Fatih’s innocent look only increased their disbelief. It seemed as if this was the norm for him, and he had no idea how scary it was for someone to differentiate such a tiny improvement and be right on the mark, just by counting in his head without any reference to timing equipment.

Karting, unlike the downforce-reliant formula ladder, cannot generate helpful aerodynamic downforce to press water out of the way. With a small ride height due to the chassis sitting extremely close to the ground, water tends to pool around the kart instead of spreading outwards. Paired with small tires that reduce the amount of water they can displace, it is nearly impossible for a track to dry during a session if it starts wet. This reality requires the drivers to maintain full focus; it is a true test of skill where a driver must read and understand the surface lap by lap and manage grip without relying on mechanical or aerodynamic aid.

When all of that was taken into consideration, the fact that Fatih still had enough mental bandwidth to count in his mind, accurate to the tenth of a second, showed just how much of a monster he was.

“Let’s get back to the main topic,” Ricky said, tapping the table to refocus everyone’s attention away from Fatih.

It took a few seconds for everyone to recollect themselves. The drivers wondered how they couldn’t do it, the mechanics wondered how you even *could* count it, and the coaches and telemetry staff wondered what the heck was going on in Fatih’s mind to have that much bandwidth. Finally, they all joined him at the table to start the post-qualifying debrief and prepare for the qualifying heat that was about to start in twenty-five minutes.

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first Qualifying Heat of the KF Junior category, a battle between group B and C. This was changed in order to compensate for Group A being the first to go on the wet track for the qualifying session, as a means of leveling the field,” Gianni announced as the drivers got into their Karts just a few minutes before the first heat started.

“On pole position, we have Tommaso Mosca, who qualified second overall, but since group A is not in this qualifier, he is now sitting on pole. Locking out the front row is Giuliano Alesi, taking the P2 position, followed by Enaam Ahmed on the second row…” Martina started, going through the list of the thirty-six drivers in the heat one by one.

“On P12, we have Fatih Yıldırım, who is quite a few positions up compared to where he qualified. That is one of the perks of heats with more than two groups, as he is now as close to the top ten as he could be, and it gives him an opportunity. On P13, we have Mick Junior (Schumacher)…”

…

VWOOOM!

A horn blared before the drivers were pushed by their mechanics, starting the karts. They began the formation lap, all the drivers swerving left and right to put some heat into their tires. As they approached the first of the triple hairpins, they compacted into two tight lines. The session leaders took a straight shortcut, skipping the second hairpin and arriving immediately at the third and final corner before the green flag was waved and a horn sounded, indicating the start of the race.

…

“And the green flag is waved as the drivers get on the power! Giuliano Alesi has a great start, but Enaam Ahmed is matching his reactions and slowly closing the gap on the straight! A few drivers in the back go off the track, but the race is allowed to continue without any flag. Into the first corner, Enaam fancies a move but is forced to hold back, choosing a bad entry but a smoother, faster exit heading into turn two! Giuliano Alesi holds firm as he goes wide to defend, and Enaam experiences wheelspin on the exit after being forced onto the wet parts of the track to avoid the race leader! The same can’t be said for Tommaso, who has managed to catch everyone by surprise and has already gained a minor but comfortable lead. It continues widening with every fight that takes place behind him! ENAAM MAKES ANOTHER GUTSY MOVE! HE PLACES GIULIANI UNDER PRESSURE, FORCING HIM TO MAKE A MISTAKE! A SWITCHBACK IS ACCOMPLISHED INTO TURN FOUR AS GIULIANO ALESI GOES WIDE AFTER MISSING HIS BRAKING MARK, TRYING TO OUTBRAKE ENAAM! QUITE AN IMPRESSIVE START FOR THE YOUNG DRIVER, WHO IS NOW CHASING THE RACE LEADER!” Gianni commentated with pure excitement as the action on the track warranted nothing less.

That’s when Martina, who had been silent, came in. “But the most surprising beneficiary of this start is Fatih Yıldırım! The young driver has made up six positions in just a few corners by placing his kart perfectly or baiting the defending drivers into making mistakes. It’s a scary and efficient performance from the young man, who is now looking to set up another move! He moves to the side, making his intentions clear to the driver ahead, who looks back and moves to cover the position! In doing so, he misses his braking marker into turn five! HE LOCKS UP TRYING TO MAKE THE CORNER AND GOES OFF THE TRACK! Fatih says, ’Thank you very much,’ takes the position, and moves into P5! WHAT A GREAT START FOR THE YOUNG DRIVER! He now chases Giuliano Alesi, who fell to P4. There’s quite a distance to cover, but Fatih has all the time in the world to catch up. This is only the first lap, and he has already started remedying his mistake while still being on a dry setup on a damp track! Oh my god.”