Formula 1: The GOAT

“Hi…” Fatih said as he stood from his chair within moments, not wanting to waste time or let Helmut have the satisfaction of seeing him falter or show that he was under pressure.

“My name is Fatih Yıldırım, fourteen years old, currently in the middle of shifting from karting to single-seaters, and with your help, I hope that shift happens as smoothly as possible within the time frame we have. It is nice meeting you, and I look forward to working with you in this endeavor.”

When he was done with his short introduction, Alex started clapping, only for it to awkwardly die as only a few other people joined him in the unrhythmic claps before they died down.

’Okay, there is definitely more to it than it seems,’ Fatih, who on the outside looked calm and neutral, thought to himself, also talking to Apollo when he saw the reaction.

Normally, for things like this, even if it is superficial, everyone will try to go along with it to not cause any problems. But that would only be under the condition that they were only dissatisfied with being called here and nothing more was added to it. But if something was added, then the reaction would make more sense.

“What do you think is the actual cause?” Apollo asked, sounding amused at how things were unfolding. He was not in the least worried about the environment Fatih was going to be in, since the majority of the training was not going to be done by those in the room, but by him, so even if they didn’t like him and tried to hinder his training, it was something that, from the start, would not harm him at all.

“I don’t know, but there is definitely something. Or maybe the reaction I’m used to receiving or giving in situations like these was the exception to the norm, but I don’t think that is actually it. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway, and if it is really a problem, we will eventually know about it,” Fatih said as he set aside the confusion or the attempt of trying to find the reason for the reaction, whilst still leaving the possibilities of Helmut, another third party, or it just being one of the many ways people can react on the table, not really leaning towards any yet unless he finds additional evidence, and he had all of the time in the world to do so without much worry.

Helmut, on the other hand, turned to one of the other two men he had come with, blinking at him with a slight nod, signaling for him to go ahead.

The man, looking as if he didn’t really want to do it but had no choice, just cleared his throat and, while still seated, said, “I’m Borris Andreason, the head of this training program from the Arden Motorsport side, responsible for overseeing everything outside of the garage, from equipment to people. I would like for this to be a very productive training session to justify the expenditure of all the resources.”

When he was done, the man on the left side of Helmut followed, “My name is Michael Scott, and as many of you already know, I’m the head of this entire transition program. Just like how thousands of pieces of a machine need to work well together for a Formula car to run smoothly, I hope the same unity comes from us as well.”

“I’m Dr. Ernst Staud, this program’s chief medical and nutritional officer. The team under me will be overseeing everything from his training and nutrition, all the way to first aid in case of injuries.”

“Markus Vettel, head of Red Bull Sims operations in this operation, and as the title says, I will be overseeing the simulation side of training.”

“James Holton, race engineer, both during the training period and the F4 season we will be spending together,” James said while looking at Fatih, his expression one of the softest among those who introduced themselves, only matched by Michael, the head of the program.

“Lisa Cartwright, chief mechanic for both the training and the actual F4 season…”

“Jamie Fast, test and setup engineer…”

The introductions continued, going around the table, with each individual having a different attitude in their voice, albeit in a subtle way and not fully openly hostile, as they needed to not make it too obvious for Helmut to be forced to do something about it.

“There are more people on the team, but they are all under teams led by those present in the room, so we can consider the introduction done. Let’s move to the meeting,” Helmut said before turning to Michael, hinting at him to take the lead since he was the one responsible but also because he couldn’t be bothered.

“After having a deep conversation with Dr. Ernst following the results of his test, it has been deemed that he is already fully fit for the demands of an F4 car and could start driving tomorrow. But despite that, it has been decided that he will be spending two weeks here undergoing environmental acclimatization to get him ready for the hot conditions inside the cockpit that he will be racing in before he is to return to Milton Keynes.

It is more than a month earlier than the previous plan had calculated as the fastest possible time, but it is not a bad thing, or rather, it is a good thing. As a result of those changes, his theoretical training will also be brought forward, along with the simulation training now being made more extensive to allow for full preparations. The actual experience driving at the moment faces no changes, but depending on the speed of learning he shows back at Milton Keynes, we can either keep it as it is, or we can bring it forward as well by increasing the track sessions and activities along with the ones that have already been booked to give him as much time on the tarmac as possible.

So everyone has those two weeks that he will be spending here to coordinate with one another to have those changes reflect on the new plans. If there are any problems or conflicts, you can reach out to me to help you with dealing with them.” Michael moved from one point to another, informing everyone of the heavy changes to the program. The reaction looked no different than students who had just been given last-minute additional homework upon the teacher remembering there was a holiday.

The changes Michael wanted to the program would not only require them to pull all-nighters to change them, but it also increased the workload they were going to have to take, since the Milton Keynes part of the training that was expected to start by the earliest, a month and a half or two months later, was brought forward by nearly six weeks.

Those who had a neutral or positive introduction retained them, but for those who were not happy about things in the first place, these changes didn’t help alleviate their feelings at all and had even led to those feelings worsening.

Once Michael was done with his part, he opened the floor for everyone else to bring forth the parts that they wanted to discuss today, as this was just the first of the many meetings they were expected to attend during the duration of his training, planned to take place at least once every two weeks in order to have everyone up to date with matters from other departments and allow for the entire team to move forward as a single unit and not many small parts moving individually.

The meeting went on for more than three hours, as Michael’s statement had complicated everything else, leading many of them to plan to use this as an opportunity to show how difficult it was going to be, and also have some of the difficulties they were going to be facing helped by the Red Bull side.

“Fatih, remain. We still have something to talk about,” Helmut said by the time the meeting ended, and everyone started walking out of the door.

……

Fatih, who was now alone with Helmut in the giant meeting room, walked towards a chair that would put him at a ninety-degree angle from Helmut and took a seat before waiting for Helmut to be the one to open the conversation.

“I’m very pleased with the results your physical exam has shown, and I’m sure the top people watching will be very pleased by them as well,” Helmut said, sounding like someone really proud of the results Fatih had shown.

However, Fatih, knowing better than anyone about the Red Bull team’s situation and these two people, whom many had dubbed the most toxic individuals in the sport, leading to both having to exit the Red Bull team in the 2025 season, knew exactly what he was doing, which was him deliberately making him aware that this was being watched by the higher-ups very closely to increase the pressure on him.

“Thank you, I will keep that in mind during my training,” he answered calmly, making it very obvious that Helmut’s words hadn’t done anything to him in terms of pressuring him or increasing the weight he felt.

“Good, I just wanted to make their appreciation known, as they are investing quite a large amount in this. But since you are confident, I will tell them to look forward to the results of your training,” Helmut said with a smile on his face, as if he had discovered that Fatih was trying to hide his worries underneath.

Unfortunately for him, Fatih wasn’t hiding anything, and he actually wasn’t feeling any of the pressure someone in his position should be feeling.