Formula 1: The GOAT

His routine remained largely the same: wake up, go for a run, wash and get ready for school before either his mother or grandmother took him; study, eat lunch, study again; then get out of school and wait for his mother or Seraphina’s mother to pick them up and take them to the karting track, which they were in the midst of acquiring, as they had booked it so much that many considered it to be a private track due to how often it was closed.

Then, go home, do exercises, have physiotherapy, wash, spend some time with his grandmother and mother in the living room before heading to sleep, and finally start his training with Apollo before rinsing and repeating it again and again.

This went on until Thursday of the second week, when he immediately left after school was over and headed directly to Milton Keynes with Alex, while Seraphina went to the track to practice alone, as he needed to complete a few things before a decision was made on whether he was fit to race or not.

The situation between Alex and him had changed as Alex had finally finished handling all of the tasks he had with Red Bull and had officially joined Fatih’s side, though his tasks remained largely the same.

He was now acting as both Fatih’s personal assistant and his performance coach, meaning he was responsible for his physical training, massages, hydration, and nutrition, while also being the bidirectional point of contact from Fatih to the team that was built to support him, handling equipment logistics, WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) compliance support, and similar things.

But he was largely not doing many of these things alone because, within the team that was created to support Fatih, there was also a secretariat team that handled the majority of the tasks, like preparing for his new race suits, helmets, logistics, and other things, as he only handled the final part of those things.

His salary had also undergone an upgrade compared to what he was being paid by Red Bull, but it also came with increasing responsibilities, which were things that he was already excited about and looking forward to.

Due to his mother handling the transition along with Red Bull, there was no friction of any kind, and he would continue doing those things for him as they were almost the same as his new tasks; just the one who paid him and whose opinion he needed to care about had changed from Red Bull to Rümeysa.

……..

“GO!”

Immediately upon hearing those words, Fatih, who was fully strapped inside the cockpit, immediately pulled off the seatbelt, disconnected the radio and the steering wheel, set it aside, pulled himself out of the car, and finally put the steering wheel back on its mount.

“Twelve seconds,” the man who had shouted at the start said as he looked at the stopwatch in his hand before adding, “We need to shave off two more seconds before we can be cleared.”

Fatih stretched his hand as he listened before removing the steering wheel and getting back in the cockpit once again, as he needed to continue practicing until he could do a sub-ten-second extraction. The team assistant helped put the steering wheel back on for him, resetting everything to restart the practice.

“GO!”

…

“What are his test results showing?” Helmut, who was watching the practice through a live CCTV camera, asked Dr. Ernst Staud, the medical assistant who was responsible for Fatih’s transition training. To keep them up to date, Alex continued sending the team Fatih’s test results every time they did them.

“He can use his left hand at seventy percent of its capabilities, so I don’t see a problem with his participation, but he will have a difficult time performing as he usually does since the right hand will need to compensate for the deficits on the left,” Ernst said as he stood next to Helmut, watching the same CCTV feed.

“Then that should be fine for him,” Helmut said as a matter of fact while leaning back in his chair and continuing to watch the feed.

“Though I’m worried about something,” the doctor said with slight reservation.

“What?” Helmut asked when there was a long pause, and nothing was added, annoying him.

“Although he might be able to handle it physically, whether he can do the same mentally is a different topic,” Ernst said with reservation.

“He has suffered worse crashes than this in karting and bounced back without any problem, so what is the difference this time?” Helmut asked while turning to Doctor Ernst.

“There was a three-month gap between him getting injured and returning to karting, so he had time to come to terms and deal with any possible trauma he might have gotten. But this time, he has only two weeks. If you add the pressure of the championship he is chasing, it is not a good recipe for avoiding trauma,” Dr. Ernst explained his reasoning clearly, highlighting the differences from his previous accident.

“…” Upon hearing the reasoning, Helmut took time to think about it.

“What would the effects be if he did have trauma?” he asked.

“He might be worried about a repeat crash and hold back from pushing, or driving near other drivers, among many other things. It all depends on how he internalized it. If the championship is his main worry, it might go the opposite way, where he pushes too much trying to earn as many points as possible and ends up pushing beyond the car’s capabilities, losing control, and crashing once again, compounding the issue.

If he has it, I would advise pulling him out the moment it is discovered, or you might lose the Fatih you know for a long time. A season is not worth the future of a driver,” he added, giving suggestions on what to do if his assumptions were true.

TAP! TAP! TAP! Helmut tapped his table rhythmically as he thought about what he had heard before he said, “You will go with the team and monitor him for any signs of trauma or reservation, and I’m giving you the power to pull him out the moment you find evidence backing it. Call me ASAP.” He said this with full seriousness, as he wasn’t planning on losing Fatih before seeing him in Formula 1, and a single F4 season could be discarded if it came to that.

“I will do that,” Dr. Ernst said before pointing to the screen and adding, “He passed it.”

“I don’t think he has trauma,” Helmut said in a low enough voice that even Dr. Ernst couldn’t hear him as he watched the screen, which showed Fatih returning to the cockpit to continue practicing after a short celebration.