Formula 1: The GOAT

“In the lead, we have Tommaso, followed by Enaam, Alex, Giuliano Alesi in P4, and Fatih Yıldırım on the chase in P5. He has reduced the distance from the front group by more than two-tenths at the end of the first lap, and he is still on the charge.

This young driver has shown everyone that his free practice consistency was not a fluke. His race IQ is something that surprises me, considering he is at least two years younger than the second youngest driver on the track. It’s something many only gain as they become older and go through the trial-and-error learning phase that he seems to have skipped, the same way he skipped categories,” Gianni commentated with enthusiasm, now fully focusing on Fatih, who had shown that he was going to hog all the attention in this heat due to his performance.

And he wasn’t wrong, as scouts who had reduced their priority of him due to his bad performance in the qualifiers now focused on him to see if the initial comeback was a fluke or something he could do at any time.

…….

Fatih breathed calmly as he went wide on the left, braking slightly before turning the steering fully to take the final hairpin and enter the final start-finish straight to begin his fourth of the thirteen-lap heat. He was now within touching distance of Giuliano Alesi, who was just a few tenths ahead of him, having cut all of Alesi’s advantage within just two and a half laps since he started chasing after him in clear air.

He didn’t show any impatience as he focused on keeping his lines smooth, the way this track demanded. Alesi constantly looked back as he went through turn one, doing the same in turn two, making sure he was ready to cover all of the bases the moment Fatih showed any intention of making a move, which through the first three corners he did not.

With the knife-edge setup Fatih was driving with, in unsuitable conditions, he was being extremely precise, knowing any over-input would result in him sliding and could even risk causing him to spin. This forced him to reduce the number of daring attempts he planned to make, which resulted in Alesi thinking that Fatih was going to just wait until he made a mistake, as that was what Fatih did in the first three corners. But everything changed the moment they entered the short straight heading to turn four, which was a full ninety-seven-degree turn warranting heavy braking.

He tucked behind Alesi, gaining distance through the slipstream, and as they neared the end of the short straight, he moved to the right side just as Alesi moved wide to the left, following the racing line in order to take the corner efficiently. Alesi only realized that Fatih had made an attempt to overtake him when Fatih appeared on his right side as the short straight was coming to an end and their braking markers in the rain arrived, leaving him in a dilemma of whether to out-brake Fatih and follow the racing line or just follow the racing line as is. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but one he had to do in a few seconds, and he went with the easiest solution for him, which was to out-brake Fatih.

But to his surprise, Fatih didn’t brake early and matched his decision, remaining on power as they neared the no-return zone, forcing Alesi to bite and brake, or else he risked going off the track. To his surprise, Fatih didn’t get on his brakes until about five meters after Alesi had.

“Got you,” Alesi said under his helmet as a smile appeared on his face. But it only lasted for a moment when he saw Fatih deliberately leaving the racing line and going on the wet patch of the track, drifting into the corner. He had braked just enough to be able to drift, but also avoided locking his tires by modulating the force he applied his brakes with just the right amount, allowing him to take the corner while drifting. Although slow and not recommended, it was enough to keep the position he gained.

Due to drifting, the kart completed the ninety-degree turn earlier than taking the corner usually would, allowing him to get on the power earlier. Alesi went wide with his left tires, driving over the grass at the exit of the corner, which resulted in the opposite happening to him. When he attempted to get on the power, the tires on the grass didn’t bite due to the grass being wet, forcing him to wait until he had fully returned to the track before fully applying it. By then, Fatih had already opened a two-tenths gap into the following straight as he was leaning forward to induce a mini DRS effect and gain even more speed, consolidating his position while at the same time chasing his teammate Alex, who was in P3 with more than seven laps to go.

……….

“The Doctor is going to love it,” Mark, the Red Bull scout who was responsible for today’s monitoring, said as he zoomed in on Fatih, who was now chasing Alex, having already reduced the distance and caught him by the end of the lap. As he tucked behind Alex on the start-finish straight, gaining and closing in more and more before coming out of the slipstream by the end of the straight, they neared turn one, where Alex kept turning and looking at Fatih as the corner got closer to get an idea of what he was going to do. But it seemed like Fatih was content with being side-by-side as they took the first corner as if one of their karts was mirrored by the other, forcing Alex to leave space for Fatih or risk clashing.

As they came out of turn one and headed into turn two, Fatih’s outside line turned into the inside line. Fatih, being strategic, braked earlier than usual, leaving Alex to capitalize on this and move to cover the inside. But in doing so, he clipped the inside curb, which was super wet, resulting in his kart having varying grip on both sides, causing the part with more grip to move forward faster than the slippery one, causing a slight slide that Alex was forced to correct. Only then did he realize that Fatih, who had taken his previous line, had completed an overtake, securing the position before he could even finish correcting for the mistake, finally entering the podium positions.

“Man, he sure is scary,” he said, feeling goosebumps after he saw how Fatih had set it all up and executed it as if he had minutes to think about it. This was the type of driver they wanted: aggressive enough to assert their position on the track while at the same time being calculative enough that he wasn’t just blindly making aggressive maneuvers. He then added, “William is going to be surprised when he watches this video, but we need to hurry before he makes a name for himself and attracts even more attention from others,” remembering that although this event wasn’t at the level of the FIA Karting World Championship, it was still a very prestigious one with many drivers who would participate in international FIA events also participating in this one, so his performance against these drivers could directly translate to his performance against drivers in the FIA international events.

While he was thinking about it, Fatih had already completed catching up to the group of race leaders, thanks to them still fighting among themselves, aiding him in catching up to them in just four laps, with three laps of the heat remaining.

……..

“He hasn’t placed his foot wrong through the heat and has now caught up to the race leaders in just four laps. What a charge from this young driver, ladies and gentlemen! And just as they come out of the final hairpin and enter the start-finish straight, Enaam tucks behind Tommaso to benefit from his slipstream as Tommaso tries to break the tow, failing to do that as Enaam keeps following him across the straight. Now Fatih joins them in this train as they go through the first corner as if they are connected, doing the same in turn two with turbulent air causing a few problems for those behind the race leader. But they keep control over their karts and remain glued to him, taking turn three flat out! WILL FATIH MAKE THE MOVE INTO TURN FOUR LIKE HE DID A FEW LAPS AGO? WILL ENAAM MAKE A MOVE AS WELL, OR WILL THEY ALL REMAIN FOLLOWING THIS TRAIN FOR THE REST OF THE LAP?

AND WE HAVE OUR ANSWER AS BOTH ENAAM AND FATIH MOVE TO BOTH SIDES OF TOMMASO, COVERING HIM FROM BOTH SIDES AS THEY NOW BARREL INTO TURN FOUR WITH NO ONE GIVING AN INCH OF ADVANTAGE TO THE OTHER! AS THEIR TIRES SCREAM AND FIGHT FOR THE GRIP, THE CORNER COMES AT THEM! WHO WILL BRAKE LATER THAN ALL OF THEM, AND WHO WILL BRAKE FIRST?

HERE COMES FATIH, TAKING THE DECISION TO STOP FIRST AS THE LEADER PASSES HIM! AND WE HAVE A CRASH! THE RACE LEADERS CRASH INTO EACH OTHER AFTER TOMMASO LOCKED HIS TIRES AND COLLECTED ENAAM ON HIS LEFT! FATIH, WHO MADE A STRATEGIC DECISION TO BRAKE FIRST, TAKES THE LEAD, ENJOYING HIS TIME ALONE AS THE FORMER RACE LEADERS FINALLY REJOIN THE TRACK, BUT THEY ARE NOW MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS BEHIND FATIH WITH ONLY TWO AND A HALF LAPS REMAINING!

THIS WAS AN UNEXPECTED RESULT, ONE THAT SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN PREDICTED BY FATIH, WHO MADE THE DECISION TO BRAKE EARLIER THAN THE REST! WHAT A RUTHLESS AND CALCULATIVE YOUNG MAN WHO COMPLETED HIS CHARGE FROM THIRTEENTH TO FIRST IN TEN LAPS! HE FINALLY LEADS HIS FIRST INTERNATIONAL HEAT OF HIS CAREER IN A SETUP UNSUITABLE FOR THE CURRENT CONDITIONS, BUT HE STILL DROVE AROUND THE LIMITATIONS AND NOW FOUND HIMSELF AHEAD OF EVERYONE!” Gianni commentated with passion, shouting from the moment they entered the turn four straight and keeping the same excitement until Fatih took the lead and opened the gap.

……..

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Ricky found himself clapping together with those who were in the tent watching Fatih’s superb and marvelous drive from down all the way to leading the heat.

Amidst their claps, the speakers on the track were still broadcasting the Italian commentary: “LA BANDIERA A SCACCHI VIENE ALZATA, AND FATIH SEES IT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS INTERNATIONAL CAREER, ON HIS VERY FIRST HEAT. FATIH YILDIRIM WINS THE FIRST HEAT OF THE 42ND TROFEO DELLE INDUSTRIE AFTER MOUNTING A MAGNIFICENT RECOVERY!”