Formula 1: The GOAT

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first heat of the 2013 CIK-FIA KF Junior World Championship. On the track, we have our twenty-four drivers from Group A and Group B doing their final preparations before the heat starts. And at the back of the grid, we see the driver many are looking forward to, stretching and warming up, motivating himself for the performance required of him in these heats if he wants to keep his chances of a race win tomorrow alive.”

As the commentators’ voices were heard through the speakers spread all over the track, Fatih was on the grid with Steve, who had taken the place of Burak. Burak had stayed up all night to monitor the inspection and needed a long and deserved rest.

“Why are you stretching when all you’re going to be doing is sitting? Do you plan to run the race?” Steve teased, trying to ease Fatih’s mind to help him have a clear head during the heats.

“I’m increasing blood flow. It’s something I will need for what I’m about to do,” Fatih said as he squatted and stood back up a few times, earning weird looks from other drivers.

“You are not planning on punching other drivers to pass them, right?”

“Hahaha, no matter how funny that would look, no,” Fatih said as he finally stopped stretching and took the helmet from Steve’s hands.

The moment he put it on, the look in his eyes changed. The feeling he was radiating shifted completely, with all the silly and playful atmosphere around him dispersing. The change was so stark that even Steve felt something was wrong, but the moment he saw Fatih’s eyes through the open visor, he immediately understood what they meant.

It was something he had seen in the professional motorsports scene a lot: drivers taking their time to get their minds and bodies mentally ready for the race ahead. The only difference was that even veterans took at least five minutes to get into that mentality, and rookies could take up to thirty minutes. But the shift in Fatih was nearly instant, to the point that Steve could pinpoint exactly when it happened. It was the action of putting on his helmet, and it seemed that was a sufficient trigger for Fatih to get into the mindset.

“Eughh,” Steve let out involuntarily as his whole body shook with goosebumps. He instantly caught himself, trying not to distract Fatih, but it seemed Fatih was already so focused on the race that nothing could break his concentration.

…..

“The lights are out, and the twenty-four drivers on the track, led by Lando Norris in P1, start going around the track in their formation lap to warm their tires and do final checks of their karts, something we have been reminded of by Fatih’s kart failing to even set a lap due to an engine problem.” Giancarlo took over the commentary as the drivers started their lap. From his focus, it was clear to everyone that he was going to be overwhelmingly concentrating on Fatih, who was, at the moment, the most interesting driver with the most interesting storyline.

“Lando Norris now exits the final corner, the Turn 14 hairpin, with Daniel Ticktum, who qualified fourth overall, alongside him. On the second row, we have Dean MacDonald accompanying Mick (Schumacher) Junior. Despite entering the long start-finish straight, they can’t start the race until the last drivers also enter the straight and green flags are waved. You can see all the drivers are looking to the left, trying to see when the green flag is waved,” Luca commentated as the karts fully bunched up, with some even bumping each other. No one wanted to leave any distance to the kart in front, as that would be a disadvantage once the race started.

“AND WE HAVE THE GREEN FLAG, MARKING THE START OF THE HEATS! LANDO NORRIS HAS A SUPERB REACTION, PLACING HIS FOOT ON THE POWER FASTER THAN DANIEL AS HE MOVES TO COVER HIM AS THEY GO THROUGH THE SUPER LONG STRAIGHT HEADING INTO THE FIRST CORNER!

DANIEL NOW STARTS HIS CHASE, HAVING NOT BEEN BOTHERED BY ANY OF THE CHAOS TAKING PLACE BEHIND! BUT FATIH HAS AN EVEN BETTER START, HAVING EXPERTLY AVOIDED ALL OF THE CHAOS AND EVEN THREADED HIS KART BETWEEN TWO ACTIVELY SPINNING KARTS THAT HAD HIT EACH OTHER, MAKING UP SIX POSITIONS BEFORE HE EVEN ENTERS THE FIRST CORNER, STARTING HIS CHASE IN P18!” Giancarlo said, sounding very surprised that Fatih had already made up six positions before the first corner, wondering how he did it.

Thankfully, he had his co-commentator, Luca, who explained the situation. “I was focusing on him the whole time. He had the best reaction of all drivers on the track, as he immediately moved for an overtake the moment the green flag was waved, making three positions from the start. With the benefit of being the first to accelerate, he overtook the next kart almost immediately, but he had to lift his foot from the throttle before threading a needle to avoid two karts that crashed in front of him as they were sent spinning off the track. Otherwise, he would have lost all the positions he had gained. He has very fast decision-making abilities.”

“AND SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, AND HE SHALL APPEAR! HE HAS ALREADY CAUGHT UP TO THE GROUP OF THREE DRIVERS AHEAD OF HIM BY THE THIRD CORNER, THE HAIRPIN, AND IS MAKING HIS PRESENCE CLEAR TO EVERYONE! HE MOVES TO THE OUTSIDE LINE, GETTING SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH NIKITA MAZEPIN, WHO ATTEMPTS TO MATCH HIM GOING INTO THE CORNER, NOT GIVING THE POSITION UP AND FORCING FATIH TO GO WIDE!

HOWEVER, FATIH DOESN’T LIFT HIS FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR THROUGH THE EXIT AND SHORT STRAIGHT! HE NOW HAS FASTER SPEED FOR HAVING GONE WIDE, BUT HE BRAKES, SELLING A DUMMY TO NIKITA, AND A SWITCHBACK IS COMPLETE AS FATIH COMES OUT OF TURN FIVE AHEAD OF MAZEPIN! BUT THAT IS NOT ALL, AS HE TAKES DOWN ANOTHER POSITION ON THE FOLLOWING STRAIGHT BEFORE TURN SIX! AND HE IS STILL NOT DONE WITH THE LAST DRIVER IN THIS GROUP! HE OPENS UP HIS ENTRY EARLY BUT IS FORCED TO THE OUTSIDE LINE.

HE STICKS ONTO HIM, NOT GIVING HIM TIME TO BREATHE AS HE BIDES HIS TIME, WHICH DOESN’T TAKE LONG! HIS OUTSIDE LINE NOW TURNS INTO THE INSIDE LINE ON THE ENTRY OF TURN 8, AND HE RETURNS THE FAVOR BY KEEPING THE INSIDE, BUT THIS TIME THE NEXT CORNER DOESN’T GO THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AND ALLOWS FATIH TO STILL HAVE THE INSIDE LINE IN TURN 9, COMING OUT AHEAD! HE HAS MADE THREE MORE POSITIONS, RISING TO P15, MAKING NINE POSITIONS IN NINE CORNERS, AND THE LAP IS STILL NOT OVER AS HE IS NOW CHASING THE NEXT GROUP THAT IS NOT TOO FAR AHEAD!” Giancarlo shouted through his commentary, unable to remain calm at what they were witnessing.

It was as if they were watching a professional bully amateurs. In just two corners, Fatih had already made enough ground to catch the next group of five karts by the time he exited the chicane, now leaving only two corners remaining: a wide, long left-hander and the final right-hand hairpin.

……..

As he came out of the chicane, he had gained a half-second, with half of that gain being a result of the fight taking place between the karts in the group ahead. This also allowed him to exit the chicane with as much speed as possible, unlike the five who had their speed compromised.

With his foot on the power earlier than them, he tucked behind them, gaining ground fast in their slipstream before moving to the right side, completing the first overtake on the straight. Just as he was about to do the same to the second driver, that driver moved outside to cover him. Fatih instantly reacted and moved to the inside, passing the driver before retaking the outside line just as they entered the wide left-hander. The three drivers in front of him all took the shortest route, which was the inside line he had abandoned. However, by using the outside line, he was able to carry a higher speed, allowing him to complete two overtakes by the time the left-hander straightened out. This caused the driver leading the group to panic and move to the outside to cover Fatih heading into the final corner.

Fatih, already expecting it, took the outside line, going wide on the hairpin entry but taking the curbs aggressively on the exit. This placed him side-by-side with the driver as they left the corner, putting them into a drag race on the start-finish straight. By the time they passed the timing strip, Fatih was already ahead, having accomplished a nearly impossible feat and gaining fourteen positions in just one lap. He now started chasing the group in front of him, which was quite a distance away after the final sector battle had cost him more than a second.