Formula 1: The GOAT

Having spent an enjoyable and refreshing week at home, he left for the next race weekend with a light heart and an excited body. This time, his grandmother was expected to attend the race. They arrived at the hotel on Thursday evening, updated the team on their arrival before checking in, and rested for the remainder of the day, as the following day was going to be hectic.

……

“Is this the first time he’s come?” Fatih asked after he closed the door to the briefing room, the moment he saw who was inside. He asked Alex, who was following so closely behind him that his sudden stop caused a collision.

“What are you talking abou….” Alex started to say before he moved Fatih aside to see who he was talking about. He immediately closed the door the moment he saw who was inside.

“What is he doing here?” he turned to Fatih to ask, wondering if he knew the reason.

“How would I know?” Fatih answered as he opened the door again and greeted everyone in the room, including Helmut Marko, who was sitting at the head of the table. He took his seat as if everyone wasn’t looking at him, both for the commotion he had caused at the door and for knowing that he was most likely the reason Helmut was attending the meeting in the first place.

Alex came in a few seconds later, and after Dennis arrived a few minutes after him, the weekend briefing finally started. With Helmut present, the discussion strangely went on longer and was more detailed than usual, as if everyone was trying to make sure that Helmut understood everything, including the context.

“As usual during the free practice, we will be using last week’s tires and only use our new allocation in qualifying and the races…” the head and only member of the strategy department said, finishing his briefing. It finally came time to hear the drivers’ plans, to see if they could accommodate them.

Jack Doohan, when asked, said he had nothing to add, and the same went for Dennis. But when it came to Fatih, he said, “I plan to follow the same strategy as last week…” but before he could finish, the head of strategy interjected, as if wanting to show Helmut that he knew it was not a good strategy to go for as the norm.

“Going last in qualifying? But that is very dangerous if an accident happens while you are on your push lap, and you won’t have any lap time on the board. And who knows, a driver who is not happy about your words might deliberately gravel themselves to put out a yellow flag and kill any chances of you starting at the front.”

“That is why I wanted to say I will be doing it at the start of the session before pitting, and not planning to come out unless someone matches my time,” Fatih said, making it obvious that he had already taken the possibility of a crash into consideration. But the second part made him pause for a moment as he realized that it didn’t take someone being beached in the gravel to kill his laps.

All it would take is someone positioning themselves in his path, accidentally or deliberately, but made to look like an accident, to ruin his lap, as he would have to lift. With the age of the drivers, and this being a series for learning, mistakes were expected to happen and were treated most of the time leniently, depending on their severity, which could embolden a driver to make a “mistake” to mess with him.

“We can work with that,” the head of strategy said. The meeting finally came to an end, and just as everyone was about to disperse, Helmut spoke for the first time since he entered the room. “Fatih, remain,” he said, causing Fatih, who was in the middle of standing up, to return to his seat.

“See you outside,” Alex said, patting him on the shoulder before he left, not wanting to be in the room longer than warranted.

“Come closer,” Helmut said as he pointed at the chair closest to him.

Fatih silently moved and took the indicated seat before looking at Helmut, wanting to hear what he had to say that warranted him skipping the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring to come here instead.

“I watched your interview, and I like the confidence you have shown,” Helmut paused for a moment, looking at Fatih, who maintained eye contact before he resumed. “I have also been informed of the discourse that is happening online stemming from people misunderstanding your words, and I wanted to make it clear that we at Red Bull are going to be fully backing you and be on your side. So, don’t let anything they say get to your head, and keep performing with the championship as your target.”

“I understand,” Fatih said while nodding, adding nothing else. He wasn’t moved by the words of trust from Helmut at all. He knew everything from that man was situational and dependent on how he could benefit from it. To him, at this moment, showing his full backing and support was more beneficial than anything else.

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

“What reward do I get if I win the championship?” he asked boldly.

Helmut, genuinely caught by surprise by both the question and the boldness with which it was asked, said, “Reward? Isn’t the guaranteed promotion to the next series enough?”

“It would have been enough if I had started the series as initially planned. But missing four weeks due to a mistake out of my control and still returning to win the title should warrant another reward, at least, right?” Fatih said, deliberately mentioning four weeks when he would have already missed the first two due to age, but that was not his mistake to correct. That was for Helmut, if he even remembered.

Helmut rubbed his chin for a moment as he thought about it before he asked, “What do you want?”

Fatih, caught by surprise that Helmut was even open to the suggestion, immediately said, “The championship car. I want it.”

As someone who was usually gifted the championship kart from Tony Kart, it had become a hobby of his to collect these cars and test drive them whenever he had the opportunity. Why would he miss the chance to own his own championship-winning car without spending a dime or having to negotiate a large sum to buy it from Team Arden, when Helmut could buy it from them and give it to him?

“HAHAHAHAHA,” Helmut burst out laughing when he heard what Fatih wanted, as it was completely unexpected. He had expected some outrageous demand, like mileage in an F1 car that was older than two years, which was permissible, something he would have shot down immediately because of the cost and required manpower. “You have quite weird interests.”

“Can I add more?” he asked shamelessly.

“What? I haven’t accepted your first one yet, but you want to add more?”

“You didn’t deny it, so I considered it accepted.”

Helmut looked at Fatih for a moment before he said, “Sure, let me hear what it is and decide.”

Fatih, who had maintained eye contact the entire time Helmut was looking at him, said, “For many reasons, I have yet to watch a Formula 1 race live, so I would like some paddock tickets to attend and watch one.”