Formula 1: The GOAT

1:50.451

The screen flashed, showing Fatih’s new lap time as it replaced his previous one at the top of the timing tower. Fatih slowed down and moved out of the racing line.

{That should be fast enough, right?} he asked on the radio.

{Yes, it is faster than our projected lap times, so we are safe at the moment. You can return to the pit and remain on standby,} James answered almost instantly, clearing him to return to the pit lane as they had planned.

{Fifteen seconds behind, Ayrton is on a push lap,} he warned Fatih so that he would know a car was coming and he needed to be out of the racing line by the time Ayrton arrived.

A few seconds later, Ayrton zoomed past him, heading into turn one.

{What positions are Hauger and Doohan in?}

{P7 for Doohan and P4 for Hauger, but they are returning to the pit to check your data and improve.}

…..

“I’m sure other drivers are hoping to do the same, but unfortunately, that is a privilege of only his teammates,” Justin said after the radio conversation between Fatih and James.

“Do you think looking at Fatih’s telemetry data will result in them improving their lap times?” Brad asked Justin, acting as the audience who didn’t know much about such things.

“Well, although you cannot match what he did one-to-one, it should still give them an idea of where they were not fully extracting the time or if Fatih was doing something they hadn’t considered doing in the first place.”

“Isn’t it risky for them to do it in a qualifying session for the first time?”

“This is most likely not the first time.”

“How so?”

“Well, they would have usually looked at his telemetry after the free practice sessions. This is what they most likely did last weekend, but couldn’t do this week because he couldn’t get even a single clean lap. So now they have to do it in the current session. It is also most likely why he came out on the track at the start, and not in the final five minutes of the session to benefit as much as possible from the track having been rubbered in, like he did last weekend,” Justin explained in a way that was broken down for even beginners to understand.

“And there they are,” Brad said when the feed showed the three drivers in their garage, all holding tablets.

“What is Fatih even looking at on his tablet?” Justin asked while chuckling at the thought of the driver with the fastest lap still looking at the telemetry data of the other two, who were about a second behind him.

And as if he heard them, he just flipped the tablet in the direction of the camera, showing that he was watching the live session.

“HOHOHOHOHO, looks like he is watching the session with us,” Brad said as he laughed at how things were unfolding.

“If you have time, can we have an interview? Though our questions will likely be limited to yes or no, it is fine if you are busy,” Brad said, taking a gamble.

Fatih turned the tablet back to himself before giving a thumbs-up in the direction of the camera. He then lifted his visor, raised three fingers, and tapped his wrist where he would have worn a watch, making it clear that he had three minutes.

“OOOO, it was a shot in the dark, and I didn’t expect it to be accepted at all,” Brad said in surprise.

The TV director seemed to have been informed about it, as instead of changing the feed, he just miniaturized the camera that was on Fatih on the right side of the screen before the larger feed returned to broadcasting the qualifying session. The camera in Team Arden’s garage zoomed in further on Fatih since he was going to be answering the interview questions.

“Looking at the telemetry, do you feel like you’ve found the limit of the car yet, or is there more to improve? Thumbs up for having found the limit, thumbs down for not,” Justin, the first one to come up with a question, asked.

“….” There was a short silence as they waited for the feed to catch up, but it looked like Fatih was tapping something on his tablet. Moments later, he turned it around, showing he was in a notes app with a large font.

“Could push for more, but no need to risk that,” Justin read what was captured on the camera as the larger feed was immediately replaced by the one on Fatih’s garage, since something interesting was happening.

“Does that mean you are not going to return to the track and you are confident in the lap time you have set?” Brad immediately jumped in to ask the more interesting question.

“…..” Fatih tapped on the tablet for a moment before once again turning it around.

“At current lap times, yes. Wow, that is the level of confidence I wish I had in myself,” Justin said as he laughed after reading the answer Fatih wrote.

“Do you see anyone as a possible challenger for your lap time, or someone who can get closer to it?”

“Ayrton Simmons, Dennis Hauger, Kiern Jewiss, Jack Doohan,” Brad read the names on Fatih’s tablet before adding, “Those are quite familiar names, but which group are they in? The possible challengers, or the ones that can get closer to your time?”

Instead of using the tablet, he just raised his hand and brought his pointing and middle fingers together a few times.

“Oh, you mean both?”

To that clarifying question, he just gave them a thumbs-up.

“Looks like our promised time is up, so thank you for entertaining our request, and good luck in your session,” Brad said before they returned to their normal broadcast once Fatih gave them a final thumbs-up.

…….

“And it looks like he can also be a fortune teller if he gets tired of motorsports. The top five looks like something he has seen in the future, as he takes the pole position for the two races. And in Race 1, it is Ayrton Simmons, Dennis Hauger, Kiern Jewiss, and Jack Doohan, in that same order as the one he had given us in the list of possible challengers… quite…” Justin rambled on before he completed the list of drivers in their order for both races.