Formula 1: The GOAT

“It’s lights out, and we have a very fast start, catching almost every other driver off guard, barring a few. Among them, Fatih gets the fastest start and immediately moves up two positions before he is hindered by Dennis Hauger, who squeezes him out of space and forces him to hold his position heading into Clervaux.

They all move to the left side of the track to set up their entry, but Fatih doesn’t! He takes the risk to remain in the middle of the track and brakes later than everybody, gaining two positions! But can he keep it on the track into the corner?” Brad shouted in excitement as he watched the aggressive moves from Fatih, who had his initial momentum killed but still tried to make a dive bomb on the opening lap. With the cars so concentrated, it was an incredibly dangerous maneuver, considering he had to brake and time his move perfectly to avoid going straight into the barriers.

“HE MAKES AN INCH-PERFECT PLACEMENT AS HE CLAIMS THE INSIDE LINE MOMENTS BEFORE PATRIK PASMA CAN COVER THE ENTRY! AN ALMOST PERFECT BRAKING POINT WITHOUT LOCKING UP, AND THE TWO DRIVERS TAKE THE CORNER SIDE-BY-SIDE! BUT HIS INSIDE LINE IS COMPROMISED AS THEY GO WIDE ON THE EXIT, WITH PASMA DICTATING HOW WIDE FATIH CAN GO, ACTING AS A MOVING BARRIER.

THAT ADVANTAGE IS SHORT-LIVED, HOWEVER, AS THE CHICANE COMES AT THEM. FATIH’S POSITION NOW BECOMES THE ONE LIMITING HOW FAR RIGHT PASMA CAN POSITION HIMSELF, AND HE USES THAT TO HIS ADVANTAGE. HE LEAVES SOME SPACE ON HIS RIGHT, LIMITING THE SPACE PASMA COULD EXPLOIT ON FATIH’S LEFT INTO THE CHICANE. PASMA IS FORCED TO HOLD BACK, AND FATIH MOVES UP ANOTHER POSITION, MAKING THAT HIS FIFTH OVERTAKE ON THE OPENING LAP! WHAT A GREAT RACE START!

BUT BECAUSE OF THE SHORT FIGHT, HE IS NOW MORE THAN HALF A SECOND BEHIND THE DRIVERS IN PODIUM POSITIONS, AND HE IS NOW CHASING THEM!” Justin, who took over from Brad, carried the same excitement to the battle that took place.

“It was only a few tens of meters from Fatih’s initially daring dive bomb, which he managed to time perfectly, forcing his way into the corner without the other cars being able to deny him the insertion, as it would mean they were deliberately trying to crash into him. This led to a side-by-side with Patrik Pasma, who wanted to use this as an opportunity to squeeze Fatih.

However, that too didn’t succeed for long, as the track layout once again advantaged Fatih in the upcoming chicane, giving him leverage which he then exploited to force Pasma to give up his P4 position. This level of ruthless and aggressive tactics is something we rarely see executed at this level of motorsport,” the impression of Fatih’s aggressive moves was very clear in Brad’s voice.

“Executed successfully, that is. We see many aggressive drivers, but most of the time they crash because their moves are aggressive and nothing else. Fatih’s move, however, was very aggressive yet also very calculated, showing that he wasn’t just doing it blindly but had a plan ahead of time,” Justin said as the feed moved to show the top three going through the second chicane.

They lined up to gain from the slipstream of the race leader, who was trying to break the tow but was failing. The camera then zoomed out, still keeping the three drivers on screen, now showing Fatih half a second behind them, finally entering the long straight as well. He too set himself up behind the triple-car slipstream that was in front of him.

“I don’t think his strategic opening-lap moves have come to an end, as he now has more than half of the lap to pull some more of his shenanigans, which is helped by the three ahead of him still fighting one another,” Justin said as the feed shifted to show those in the back fighting one another for position as well.

“Ooooh, we have a driver going slow. Is this a DNF and a potential safety car?”

“It is John Skelton, and he is moving out of the racing line, but there is no smoke or anything to show that it is a mechanical problem… And he is back on the throttle after he let Dennis Hauger through. To avoid a penalty for an unfair move?”

“Looks like it, because there is no other explanation for such a move. Let’s see the replay… He went off track when the pack congested, and when he rejoined, he had gained a position on Doohan, who was forced to slow down to avoid a crash.”

“Yeah, that’s a clear-cut case of going off track and gaining an advantage, even if going off track wasn’t deliberate. If he didn’t give the place back, it would be a clear five-second penalty, if not more.”

……..

Fatih, who had just come out of the Tower Bend, once again set himself up behind the leading three drivers. Having gained two-tenths on the straight and the corner, he was now only two and a half tenths behind them, making it clear that he could make a move on the straight, if not in the Jim Clark Esses or the following triple right-hander.

The feed had changed to show the T-cam on his car, along with an overlay showing his throttle and braking inputs and the speedometer. It showed that he was deliberately lifting the throttle a few percent to maintain his speed and distance from the leading cars before heading into the Jim Clark Esses, making a few people curious as to why he was doing that, because the three drivers ahead of him weren’t lifting at all.

The answer came very rapidly. By slowing himself down, he managed to take a more aggressive line, giving him a good speed advantage by the time they were out of the Jim Clark Esses. He immediately feigned a move on the inside, which Paavo Tonteri immediately responded to, moving to the right to cover any attempts, only to find that it was a dummy move.

This disrupted his racing line into the upcoming corner, with Fatih having moved to the left. Now they were side-by-side as the triple right-hander came at them. It was a very good move, but it would only work if he could maintain his position. With another driver controlling the inside line, he didn’t have complete control of the situation.