Formula 1: The GOAT

“It is difficult to believe what I’m about to say, but this is only his fourth official race in a formula series, and he has yet to lose a lead from the moment he takes it. He is now on the verge of keeping that record intact as he comes out of the final corner. He makes it known as he celebrates by weaving left and right as the start-finish line approaches. With a hand raised and pumping his fist, FATIH YILDIRIM WINS THE FOURTH RACE OF HIS SINGLE-SEATER CAREER! FOUR FOR FOUR! A HISTORICAL RUN, AND EVERYONE FROM HIS TEAM KNOWS IT AS THEY ARE NOW CLINGING ONTO THE WALLS TO WELCOME HIM AS HE WINS HIS RACE! WHAT A DRIVER, WHAT A DRIVE!” Justin shouted at the top of his lungs as the feed continued focusing on Fatih, who slowed down to a near crawl once he finished the race.

“There are two more races for him this weekend, but if he wins both of them, I will start believing that he is really intent on targeting the title, and what an accomplishment that would be,” Brad said as the feed shifted back to the two remaining podium finishers coming out of the final corner one after another.

“And ten seconds behind, the remaining podium positions are still in contention as Hauger is still chasing Ayrton Simmons. These two have fought one another for the entire race, but it is going to be slightly worse news for Hauger as he ends up finishing where he started, in third position, as Ayrton Simmons takes P2 on the podium,” Justin said just as Hauger overtook Fatih and waved at him as they did their cool-down laps.

….

{We keep this up, and we have the opportunity to go for a title shot,} James said on the radio, his excitement obvious to everyone.

{We are already going for it, not looking for an opportunity,} Fatih said with confidence, but it was obvious there was banter in his tone.

{Thank you to the entire team who worked tirelessly to get the car repaired on time and without a problem. I will try my best not to make this workload a weekly occurrence.}

{Speaking for them, I will say they will accept this much work if the result is a race win,} James answered, but before he could continue, his mic was snatched by Lisa, who said into the radio, {We would like to win these races without that much repair work, if possible.}

{I will do my best, but I’m not promising anything,} Fatih answered.

{Your best is enough,} Lisa said just as Fatih came to a stop in front of the number one sign in the pitlane.

….

“Good job, man,” Hauger said as he hugged Fatih once he got out of the car after dapping Simmons.

“Looks like you are going to die,” Fatih said while opening his visor, revealing his expression through just his eyes.

“You are still far from reaching me, so don’t get too cocky,” Hauger said, knowing immediately what Fatih was talking about—his words about Fatih having to go through him to take the title that he had said on the day of the controversial interview.

“Let’s finish this and have the interview first,” Fatih said as they walked to their team members waiting for them at the parc fermé barriers.

“No controversial answers this time. I can’t handle it, even if I’m not the one in it. Helmut is not going to let us off this time if we do it again,” Hauger joked.

“You were the one who froze when you saw him, not me.”

….

“He makes it look easy every time. IT IS FATIH YILDIRIM, HAVING STARTED FROM EIGHTH, ONCE AGAIN TAKING THE CHECKERED FLAG AHEAD OF EVERYONE! THE BATTLE BETWEEN HIM AND THE RACE LEADER WAS INTERESTING, BUT ONCE AGAIN, HE SHOWED US HOW GOOD OF A HUNTER HE IS AS HE MADE IT LOOK EASY WHEN HE TOOK THE RACE LEAD ON THE FIFTH LAP, AND NO ONE SAW HIM AGAIN FROM THERE…”

“IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A ROUTINE, AS FOR THE SECOND WEEK HE IS GOING THREE FOR THREE AND TAKING WITH HIM THE MAXIMUM POINTS AVAILABLE IN A WEEKEND, BRINGING HIS RACE WIN TALLY TO SIX AND TWO PERFECT WEEKENDS! THAT TITLE CHASE LOOKS MORE AND MORE REAL WITH EACH PASSING RACE WIN, AND EVERYONE ELSE IS MADE TO LOOK LIKE ROOKIES AGAINST HIM! WILL THIS CONTINUE, OR WILL ANYONE RISE UP TO THE OCCASION AT ALL?”

Keeping up with his streak, Fatih went home with six trophies once again: three for his race wins and three for his rookie championship wins, making it another windfall.

This round of triple wins made an even bigger impact because many people, both those who liked him and those who hated him, were watching, wanting to see how he was going to perform. Some of those who didn’t like him wanted to see him lose a race to use it against him, but ended up seeing him once again perform at the top of his game.

And the words he said in his final interview were not doing anything to allow them to take a graceful step back, as he had immediately targeted them.

He was asked whether he felt pressure due to the online discourse and, if he did, how he performed despite it. He answered, “Criticism is like fuel to me. The more I have, the more it adds to my motivation to perform even better than I was already performing, which in itself was already enough to warrant me race wins.” He made it clear that although it fueled him to perform better, he was already at a level where he could perform without those motivations in the first place, so they were useless anyway.

And it wasn’t received well at all.

That, however, was not something he planned or even considered worrying about; after all, they were never going to say it in front of him and would just remain as words on a screen.