Formula 1: The GOAT

“So when should I expect you to give a positive response to my mother’s offer?” Fatih teased back, not planning to apply force in the first place.

“I need to handle some things first before going through with it,” Alex, who looked like he had finally made his decision, said almost immediately.

“What? You don’t have to do it; it was just for fun,” Fatih said, wanting to make it clear that he was not serious about it.

“I know, but I have already decided anyway,” Alex said, clearing up any possible misunderstandings.

“Mhh, that is good news for me anyway,” Fatih said with a smile, not trying to talk about it any further. Moments later, the car finally arrived to collect them.

…….

“No need to apologise. You had the right of way and took it, and that’s all,” Fatih said while tapping Hauger on the shoulders when he tried to apologise.

“How bad is it?” Hauger asked while looking at the arm sling.

“Just a sprain. I should be back on the track for the final weekend without a problem,” Fatih said as he moved his hand, though the pain made him immediately put it back down.

“Where is Doohan?” Fatih asked as he looked around the garage and couldn’t find him.

“Interview, he won the race,” Hauger said shortly, though he didn’t look like he was in the mood to talk about anything, as his mind was still on the crash, which he felt he had a responsibility for.

Fatih looked at him for a moment before he said, “How about winning the next race, and we are even? You would have reduced the points Jewiss will earn and opened a possibility for me to reduce the gap. Is that fair?” He knew that his initial words of it not being something he needed to apologise for were not going to be enough to make him stop feeling guilty, so he suggested something he could actively work towards doing instead of something that would just dwell in his mind.

“I can try that. And although I might not win, Jewiss will not finish in front of me,” Hauger said, his eyes showing the conviction he had.

“That works as well,” Fatih said, completely unaware that he was creating problems for the championship leader.

……

“We can coordinate his physiotherapy with his team according to their flexibility, but we will be operating under the assumption that he is going to be present for the final weekend, with some adjustments ready,” Borris Andreason, the team principal of Arden Motorsports, said after thinking about it for a moment.

“We might need to set it so that he will only use the right side of the paddle for up and downshifting, so we need to have it ready in our simulators for him to practice,” James added, taking into consideration that even with improvements on the sprain, it would be better to not exert it too much.

The team members discussed among themselves all of the contingency plans and things they could do to accommodate his condition if he was going to race. They finally had a report that they could forward to Red Bull and Fatih’s parents without keeping Fatih in the loop, so that he wouldn’t be the one forcing the decision to race, which, as they knew, for most drivers, meant choosing racing above everything else.

Once the meeting was over and the report was sent to Red Bull with all the alternative plans they had come up with, Alex left to help Fatih collect his things before they started to head home. There was no need for him to remain at the track any longer, as he needed to leave and rest.

…

The journey back to Surrey took two hours, which was not a boring time as he received a phone call from Helmut to check on his situation. While sounding heartless, he even went as far as to tell him to rest and focus on healing, which had made Fatih question a few things.

When he arrived home, he was welcomed by his grandmother, who was already aware of the situation as he had called both her and his mother while he was waiting for the test results. With their help, a forced one, he was sent to his room and told to rest as they waited for his mother to come back. Alex left to head back to Milton Keynes, as he needed to handle a few things as fast as possible.

While everyone else resumed their tasks, he used this opening to go down to the living room and turn on the TV to tune in to the final round of the weekend, wondering how it was going to end and if Jewiss was going to increase his lead or if Hauger was going to try and keep his word to finish ahead of him. After waiting a few minutes, the session finally started being broadcast by ITV.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third and final race of the British F4’s ninth round, and we already have bad news for the driver on pole position and their fans, as he has been deemed unfit to participate in the final round due to the injuries he sustained in the crash during the second round.

Although detailed information about it has yet to be released by the team, we hope he is doing well enough to participate in the final round two weeks later. But now back to the new grid, and on pole position we have Johnathan Hoggard, with the championship leader starting beside him on the front row. He is going to be very eager to win this race and extend the gap from Fatih even further to improve his chances for the championship in the final round.

Behind him are the two remaining Team Arden drivers: Jack Doohan, who went on to clinch the win for the second race that had his teammate cause the red flag, and next to him, we have Dennis Hauger, who was entangled in the incident that ended with Fatih crashing, and he is going to be on the hunt as well.

Do you think Team Arden has tasked these two drivers to do something and help their teammate by keeping the others behind, or is that not something the team will do?”

“Well, the team will do everything to support their top driver, who has the highest chance to win the title, and for their team, it is Fatih, so they will do everything to increase his chances while hampering the other drivers’ chances as little as possible. It would be to their advantage if they win or finish ahead of Jewiss, and it would be advantageous for both Fatih and these drivers as well….”