Formula 1: The GOAT

{One minute to time,} James’s voice was heard across all three drivers as the mechanics finally dropped them and moved to the side, leaving the drivers all alone on the track. Their eyes focused on the lights, with only one of them remaining on.

{Thirty seconds.}

{Ten seconds.}

The moment ten seconds were mentioned, Fatih immediately closed his visor as he looked at the light that was still on, while at the same time going through the formation lap procedure in his mind, as it would be his second time implementing it in an F4 car.

The light finally went off, and Fatih immediately dumped the clutch, forcing the rears to burn out briefly, clearing debris off the tires and putting an immediate flash of heat into them as the car left its grid position. He stayed under the pit limiter speed until he passed the lights line before he turned off the limiter and increased the speed, starting to aggressively weave side to side. He was trying to create friction between the tire and the track by loading the car’s suspension, snapping the steering wheel to force the tires’ sidewalls to flex and generate internal heat.

He did that for the entire Hamilton Straight until arriving at Turn 1, where he stopped the side-to-side weaving and started driving straight, but despite that, he was still actively doing something that would generate heat. If someone could see the telemetry from the brake sensors, they would see the temperature coming from them progressively and aggressively increasing as Fatih was dragging the car by staying on the throttle while simultaneously pressing the brake. He was both warming the brakes and bringing them to operating temperature, but also because the hot brakes would then soak up heat through the wheel and into the air inside the tires, helping to stabilize the tire pressures.

This continued until he entered the Wellington Straight, where he once again started high-frequency weaving for the entire straight, which he only interrupted twice by loading the brakes heavily before resuming. He made sure the distance between him and Dennis Hauger was not more than ten car lengths, as that risked a penalty. This back and forth continued until he arrived at the final corner, Vale, where he stopped all the weaving and brake heating procedures, wanting the car to be stable to see if there were any new problems that had appeared as a result of the formation lap-induced stress.

As he approached his grid position, he did some burnouts to clear the surface of the tire as he sped up and braked at short intervals, making sure the tires were sticky and clear of dust just as he came to a stop in P3.

The moment he came to a stop, the medical car got in position immediately before a marshal walked through the rear of the grid, waving a green flag. All drivers now finally focused on the lights while pulling their clutches and revving their engines into the launch window, fully ready.

KONGGGGGGG!

The lights went out, and immediately all three drivers reacted, dropping their clutches to the halfway point until they got the bite and the cars started moving. It was not until a short moment later that they dropped the full clutch as the race finally started.

…….

The entire garage was fully focused on the television that transmitted the live feed on the track, giving the same look as it would during a race day, which they found quite good. But since it was not an official race, there was no official commentator, so it was just the footage along with the sound of the cars that were going around the track doing the formation lap procedure.

“Mic test, one, two, three,” the mechanics who were focused on the televisions turned their heads when they heard a sound coming from the portable large event speaker they had brought with them. They found one of the mechanics standing beside it with a wireless microphone in his hand and a serious expression on his face as he added, “A good race like this shouldn’t be without commentary,” causing all of the mechanics in the garage and those on the pit wall to laugh.

However, none of them moved to stop him at all, as commentary was such a large part of the sport that having none of it made them feel as if something was missing on a subconscious level.

Seeing that no one intended to stop him, the temporary commentator focused back on the screen before finally starting his part-time gig. “Our drivers are finally on the final stretch of the formation lap as they do their final tire burnout to clear the tires from all the dust and residues collected through the formation lap, with Jack Doohan on pole position and Dennis Hauger taking the P2 position, with last but not least, Fatih Yıldırım taking the final position on the grid. If anyone is on the verge of starting to advocate for the abolishment of the reverse grid race, it would be him, as unlike all of the sessions he participated in, this is the first time he is on the back burner.”

His witty remarks caused all the mechanics in the garage to either shake their heads or chuckle.

“And it’s lights out and away we go! Jack Doohan has a good launch with Dennis being slightly behind in reaction time, allowing Jack to cement his position as he moves to cover Dennis from fighting for it. But he didn’t have to do that as Fatih is right beside Dennis trying to take the second position as they head into the flat Turn 1. Dennis goes wide, forcing Fatih to go wide to avoid contact between the two of them, losing more time and giving an advantage to Jack Doohan as the two rejoin the track more than a second behind him as he goes through the second turn.

Fatih, now with dusty tires, is slightly behind Dennis, who is doing his best to try and cement his position. Fatih is coming back into Village Corner, but Dennis defends aggressively against him all the way through The Loop. But with Fatih getting a better drive through The Loop, he will be faster on the Wellington Straight. Dennis will now have to weave like crazy to defend against Fatih.

BUT HE IS NOT GOING TO GET THE CHANCE TO WEAVE BECAUSE FATIH IS ALREADY WITH HIM AND THEY ALMOST TOUCH! THEY GO INTO BROOKLANDS, BUT DENIS KEEPS HIS SECOND POSITION, MAKING THE MECHANICS HOLD THEIR BREATH. THE TWO ROOKIE DRIVERS ARE GIVING IT THEIR ALL THROUGH BROOKLANDS AND LUFFIELD.

HOWEVER, IT’S NOT OVER YET BECAUSE FATIH GETS ANOTHER SLIPSTREAM ALL THE WAY DOWN THE OLD PIT STRAIGHT INTO COPSE CORNER. DENIS WILL BE VERY NERVOUS ABOUT ANY OF FATIH’S ACTIONS BECAUSE THESE ARE CRITICAL CORNERS FOR THE RACE.

FATIH IS GOING TO TRY AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME ON THE INSIDE OF COPSE CORNER. DENIS GETS SCARED AND GOES WIDE AS FATIH MOVES INTO SECOND POSITION! AN AGGRESSIVE, HIGH-RISK MOVE, BUT ALSO ONE THAT HE GOT A HIGH RETURN ON AS HE NOW TAKES HOLD OF SECOND AND CAN FINALLY CHASE JACK DOOHAN. INCREDIBLE DRIVING FROM THE YOUNG DRIVER, AND IT IS UNBELIEVABLE THAT THEY ARE ROOKIES WITH ONLY A FEW HOURS OF EXPERIENCE, AND FOR SOME, EVEN LESS.”

The entire garage had deep gasps when they saw Fatih’s move, as it was a high-speed corner, meaning that if both of them held their ground and a crash happened, it would be a very heavy one, making it even more impressive that Fatih had attempted that move in the first place. It meant he was either confident that he was going to make the corner even if Dennis didn’t get scared off the track, or that he was fully ready to crash, believing that Dennis was going to get scared and leave space to try and avoid a crash.

……

“Yes, that’s how it should be,” Helmut said with a satisfied tone when he saw the move Fatih pulled to get into P2. Both to him and anyone well-versed in the sport, it was understood that it was not just a simple Hail Mary move but one that was set up all the way from the first turn. Every move following that made it more and more inevitable that he was going to get a chance to pass on lap one.

Although he was in a disadvantaged position, Fatih forced the other person into being overly active from the get-go, pairing it with tension along with the relentless attack attempts through the corner; he was bound to have a lapse in judgment that, along with good positioning, made the overtake possible.

Helmut was very satisfied, as this aggressiveness was something that he wanted in all of their drivers. This aggressive style fit best with the cars they were now developing, thanks to the philosophy that was now slowly changing to accommodate Verstappen’s driving style. So if another driver could drive the same way, then it would reduce the potential conflict of having the car development be changed, and its operation window be widened.

Amidst his thoughts, Helmut’s eyes still remained on the screen as Fatih was now going through Maggotts and Becketts, which, thanks to his perfect setup, he was able to do faster than Jack Doohan, reducing the gap between them and making it clear that he was only a few perfectly taken corners away from entering striking distance.