Formula 1: The GOAT

[[[[Sorry for the delay, father got sick, so I couldn’t squeeze a Chapter in time.]]]

“I’m sure you already know me since we introduced ourselves in Austria, so let’s get to the point and not waste our time,” Markus Vettel said when Fatih entered his office to introduce himself, as today was the day he was supposed to start his simulation training, while pressing the intercom.

Before Fatih could say anything, a young man in his late twenties entered the room, whom Markus immediately pointed to as he said, “That is Emanuel. He is the one who will be taking you through your simulation training.”

“Emanuel Watcher,” Emanuel said as he extended his hand for a handshake.

“Fatih Yıldırım,” Fatih said, meeting his hand for a handshake.

“Okay, if you have nothing more to say, you can go and start your training,” Markus said, both his tone and action making it obvious that he really didn’t want the meeting to last longer than it needed to.

“I have a question,” Fatih said, completely ignoring the obvious cues before immediately asking the question without waiting for a response to his previous statement. “I was under the assumption that the heads of each program would be the ones overseeing my training, the same way teacher Denis did on the theory training that took place. Am I wrong in that assumption?”

“Hmph,” Markus scoffed slightly upon hearing the question before he said, “Look here, it seems like us coming to meet you in Austria got to your head, but there is no mandate on that, as all teachers have control over how they do it. Plus, it’s not like you are the only one training to move to F4; it’s just that you are the slow one,” sounding calm but in a way that made it obvious that he was not really calm but just suppressing himself.

“What do you mean by slow?” As a master of only focusing on what he deemed important, Fatih didn’t really care about the tone as he fully focused on the part that he wanted to be answered.

“Looks like dominating in karting made you think it is easy. Yes, Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger finished their theory training in three days before moving to simulation training, which was two weeks ago,” Markus said, specifically stressing the “three days” part to highlight that it took Fatih three weeks to learn what it took the other two three days. It was as if he were saying to Fatih that his entire dominating karting career meant nothing if he couldn’t learn and adapt well to the next category.

’It seems like Helmut is keeping everyone on a need-to-know basis,’ Fatih thought the moment he understood what Markus was insinuating. It was too obvious to anyone who was aware of the facts, but he didn’t bother to clear the air, as he saw no need since Markus had already made it clear that he was among those who didn’t look at him favorably.

So without waiting any more time, he ended the conversation and left the office with Emanuel and Alex, as Emanuel led them to the simulator room for Fatih to finally start his training. But the air between Emanuel and the other two wasn’t clear, as there was some sense of awkwardness which Fatih didn’t pick up on, since he considered that his previous question about being taught by Markus himself was pretty clear that it was for clarification, not that he was looking down on Emanuel. It was at times like these that his inexperience with many different people from his previous life, together with his current easy and trouble-free life, came to the center.

“How far ahead are they?” Fatih asked as he entered the cockpit, already donning his race suit and helmet. Although it was simulator driving, he needed to do it in full race gear so that he wouldn’t get used to seeing without the helmet that hindered some parts of his vision, which would make it difficult to adapt what he learned in the simulator to the real world one-to-one.

“They are already driving race simulations,” Emanuel said, responding through his headset while looking at Fatih through the transparent window on the rear of the simulator. Someone else was helping him close the Halo, which opened towards the top for ease of entry.

He was inside the simulator control room, where everything about the simulated car would be controlled and monitored, allowing him to make all of the adjustments and corrections he wanted in real time.

After the assistant who helped him get into the car tightened the seat belts and made sure everything was where it needed to be, he walked near the door of the simulation room and picked up a tablet as he adjusted his headset before taking a seat still inside the room so that he could rapidly deal with any technical problems Fatih might face, along with the rare, almost impossible situation where he might have to tend to the driver in case of an emergency.

“You don’t need to focus on where they are, as we will be going at our own pace based on how you are learning, as each driver is different,” Emanuel said to Fatih through his headset, to which he received a raised thumbs-up from inside the cockpit.

“But why is the Halo still held up?” Fatih asked when the halo structure that was raised was left that way, making him wonder if it was a mistake or deliberate.

“Because your car next year will not have it,” answered Emanuel.

“It is not mandatory?” Fatih asked, quite surprised.

“Yes, it is only mandatory for F1 and F2, along with any new championship. But for existing ones, they were granted a transition period until 2023 to continue using non-Halo cars,” Emanuel answered easily, showing that he had studied this part extensively.

“Then, is it possible for my car to have the Halo if I agree to take the weight penalty?” Fatih asked, despite knowing how much the Halo was hated at this time.

It had just been made mandatory for the upcoming 2018 season after it started its development shortly after Jules Bianchi’s accident, and people were already calling it ugly and a dilution of what the sport meant. But he knew that the Halo was going to prove its importance quite a few times, starting from its first year, where it would save Charles Leclerc’s life from being hit by Fernando Alonso’s airborne car at the Belgian GP. It was an important save that started the shift in how people looked at the Halo, since he was saved by a device that had been created as a reaction to his godfather’s accident.

It would make three more critical saves in the next five years after its introduction that changed the outlook from overwhelmingly negative to overwhelmingly positive, as it received support all the way to 2030 before his regression, as it continued making critical saves, with one being the most famous, as it had deflected a tire that had dislodged when a driver slid and had his car make a one-eighty turn just as another car crashed and dislodged the tire directly in his direction before it was redirected upward, allowing the driver to survive as if nothing had happened and resume racing post-red flag. It was one of the most viral moments that broke the field of Formula 1 in 2027.

“No, it is practically impossible for that to happen, as the chassis was not designed to support the Halo, and forcing it will be counted as an illegal modification, and you will be disqualified,” Emanuel explained calmly, explaining why it was impossible for his request to be accepted.

“Okay, thanks, we can start,” Fatih said, but he didn’t give up on it, as he planned to have a conversation with Helmut Marko to see if there was any way to make it a reality. He didn’t want to go racing without the maximum possible protection, since his punctured lung had already told him that the system was not going to stop time and prevent him from being critically injured.

“Okay,” Emanuel said before he was heard through the microphone as if he were sifting through pieces of paper before he resumed speaking. “Normally, we would have started with standing start practice, but that is going to happen after we finish the current practice, which is going to be shifting, which I’m sure you already went through in theory training.

We have placed you on a straight track with no end for you to fully focus on your shifting, like you were taught. When the light on the steering wheel gets to the purple lights, you shift up. As for downshifting, you need to keep in mind the engine RPM, or else the car will refuse your downshift commands. Those are the two things that we will be working on until you perfect your up- and downshifting before we move to standing start practice, since you will need the experience of shifting at the perfect RPM there anyway. Understood?”

“Understood. So I will be starting already on the move?”

“Yes, the simulation will start exactly after a race start, where the standing start will be done automatically before you are handed control. From there on, you will go up to sixth gear, then back down to first. Once we see improvements there, then I will tell you which gear you should go down or up to as we time you on the speed at which you do it.”

“Okay, I’m ready. We can go when you are,” Fatih said, his eyes fully focused on the super-wide screen that covered his entire vision. Although invisible to everyone under his helmet, his face was smiling, as he was finally driving something, even if it was a simulator.

“You will start on your own without our feedback to see what we need to teach you and what you already know, so don’t worry about making mistakes,” Emanuel said before the screen showed a timer and started counting down. Fatih simulated a standing start the same way he was taught, with the only difference being that in this simulator, the clutch was on the steering wheel instead of the foot, and once the timer hit zero, the car launched…..