Formula 1: The GOAT

“Good luck!” one of his mechanics, who had worked tirelessly to reassemble his engine, said as he pushed his kart, powering it on once the pit lane exit was opened and the qualifying session started.

“Once again, thanks,” Fatih shouted as he placed his foot on the gas to leave the pit lane, but the look of gratitude on his face instantly changed the moment he heard the engine sound.

“Looks like we have a problem,” Fatih said as he fully focused on the engine sound to pinpoint the problem while also revving the engine up and down with his foot on the brakes to avoid gaining speed and losing control of the kart in the pit lane.

“Now let’s see if our training has borne any fruit,” Apollo’s head appeared beside Fatih with a serious expression, wanting to see if Fatih could discover the problem and come up with a solution, or if he was going to have to take the matter in hand and advise Fatih on the best course.

Instead of answering, Fatih entered full focus as he finally entered the track on the start-finish straight. He immediately got on power, but instead of the instant acceleration he expected, he received a sluggish, poor throttle response as the kart accelerated then slowed, then accelerated and slowed down again repeatedly, forcing him to lift off the accelerator.

………..

“Oh, what is going on with the pole contender? His kart is releasing blue smoke just as he got on power after leaving the pit straight. Don’t tell me he is having an engine problem before qualifying?” Giancarlo Venturi, the main commentator of the competition, asked in Italian. His voice was heard by all those present on the track, causing everyone who understood Italian to turn to Fatih, who was moving slower than everyone else on the track.

“His kart’s engine sounds very flat and muffled. I think this is the result of the overnight inspection that the FIA undertook on his kart following his attention-grabbing laps throughout the free practice sessions. It looks like the hurried rebuild to make it on time for the session has resulted in something being done incorrectly. As he stumbles around the track, he lowers his head, not feeling good at all. Once the document cleared his engine as legal, everyone had taken it as a fact that the pole was his and that he had the highest chance of winning all the remaining rounds unless a force majeure happened. But it looks like fate had other ideas for him,” Luca Ballini said, sounding disappointed that something out of the driver’s control was threatening his near-dominant weekend.

“What do you think he can do? Do you think he can return to the pits to repair it? And if he can’t, what are the other possible courses of action he has?” Giancarlo asked, posing the question that was now on the minds of all those who didn’t know the regulations for situations like these.

“The moment the session started, they entered parc fermé conditions, meaning no modifications, repairs, or adjustments can be made unless the kart is withdrawn from the session or the race director or technical delegate grants specific permission.

That is usually given only when safety is the reason a repair is to be done, and the current situation doesn’t look to be safety-related, so they will most likely not give permission. Even if they gave permission, the time it would take to diagnose and repair the problem would be longer than the session length.

Another solution is for him to change to a spare kart if it was among the registered and scrutineered parts before the competition started. But even if they have one, they can’t just change it and allow him to rejoin. He can only use it starting from the next session. So, both possible solutions only allow him to participate in future sessions; it is practically over for him in this one unless the engine problem can resolve itself on the track,” Luca said, giving his technical explanation to everyone on the track.

“Who do you think he is blaming? The FIA, who dismantled his engine overnight and left them a few hours to reassemble it? His mechanics, who reassembled the engine but missed the problem? Or the one who initially reported him and started all of this mess that has now relegated him to last on the overall grid and condemned him to starting last in all the heats?” Giancarlo asked as the cameras and eyes focused on Fatih. Due to the helmet covering his face, his demeanor showed no change at all, making them wonder what was going on in his mind.

“I don’t know what would be going through his mind at the moment, but if it were me, I would blame the mechanics last on that list. They had to spend the entire night supervising the engine disassembly, then spend a few more hours reassembling the engine that was returned to them in pieces. So, it is not that outlandish for them to miss something when they had to rush the engine rebuild until a few minutes before the first session of the day, leaving them no time to fully test the engine,” Luca answered, defending the mechanics while avoiding throwing shade at the FIA for the inspection or the person who reported suspicions about Fatih using an illegal engine.

“I would blame the one who reported me because everything that followed was a chain reaction leading to the current situation. I know that it is part of their right to report suspicion, but it wouldn’t really matter to me since it has now been cleared that he was not using an illegal engine and his performance was all from him being one with his machine,” Giancarlo said, voicing what was on the minds of many.

“It is part of the sport, and a few even use it as part of mental games in order to increase their drivers’ chances of contending. It looks like Fatih was on the receiving end of it, though it had borne more fruit than the reporter most likely expected. And it is now official, as Fatih returned to the pit lane after an agonizingly slow lap around the track before getting off the kart and having what looks like a very calm discussion with his mechanics, maybe giving them feedback on the situation. Now he is walking back to his tent. He is out of qualifying without setting an official time, officially considered DNQ (Did Not Qulafy), and will start at the back of all the heats. It is a nightmare for every driver, but it is something that he now has to contend with. What a sad conclusion to his qualifying session.”

“To him and his team, it might be sad, but to other drivers, this is a one-in-a-million opportunity to finally qualify for pole in the final race if they perform well in the heats while Fatih is stuck behind. They finally have the chance to beat him when it looked very slim and close to none just by the end of yesterday’s session,” Giancarlo said, immediately moving to the other point of view and how other drivers would take the news of the weekend’s most dominant driver not being able to set a lap time in the qualifying session.

“I can’t disagree, and it looks like all drivers have now regained their fire since the chance has finally arrived for them to do something about their current situation, and we have someone who has already started his hot lap…,”