Formula 1: The GOAT

{BOX BOX BOX BOX!} Hauger was called into the pit.

{BOX BOX BOX BOX!} The same was called for Doohan.

{BOX BOX BOX BOX!} Fatih was also called as they exited Stirling’s Bend, which was the final straight before the final corner.

{Okay,} the two other drivers agreed to the call.

{Leave me out for three laps and I will return,} Fatih, on the other hand, did not agree as he accelerated away from the group that was moving slowly into the final corner, going for a push lap while the other two entered the pit lane, following instructions.

“Looks like we are going to get to see him stretching his legs for the first time. Justin, take us through it,” Brad said as the feed returned to Fatih, who was on the Brabham Straight already accelerating, getting faster and faster.

The moment he passed the start-finish line, he moved up to sixth gear, at the same time moving to the left side of the track as the elevation rose all the way to the first turn. He immediately lifted and braked the moment the cone on the right side of the road was on the same line as the car before he turned and downshifted to fifth gear the moment he hit the apex.

As the elevation of the track dropped massively, he went wide, and as the car hit the left curbs aggressively, sending vibrations through the car, Fatih removed his left hand from the steering wheel, letting it hover until the car returned to the tarmac fully.

He put it back just in time for the fifty-meter braking marker, as he once again lifted and braked to nearly seventy percent of brake power, downshifted to third as he turned into the hairpin, staying on the inside for the entirety of the corner and only letting the car go wide on the exit into the very short straight.

While on power as the Grahill Bend corner approached, he upshifted to fourth gear, lifted for a moment, and braked to twenty percent before getting back on power the moment the car started rotating, exiting the turn wide and keeping the momentum as he entered the Cooper Straight.

He upshifted to fifth about a hundred meters from the braking zone, and the moment he arrived at the fifty-meter braking marker, he braked and downshifted to fourth as he started turning the Surtees left-hander, which had a rise in elevation as you turn into the corner and exit onto the long straight.

……..

Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger, who were already back in the garage after being pushed by their mechanics, were now looking at the live data of Fatih’s push lap, which was already the fastest in sector one and already had many purple mini-sectors in sector two as he now barreled into the straight.

The corner in which they had all made mistakes was approaching, and they wanted to see how he would handle it.

Fatih kept upshifting all the way to fifth gear just as he reached the peak and passed the bridge, before immediately upshifting to sixth just as the elevation started dropping, gaining more speed until his car hit 220 kph. He then immediately lifted and started turning the car without even touching the brake or downshifting.

Just as the car started rotating and facing the apex, he immediately downshifted to fifth, still keeping his foot away from the brake, and did something counter-productive by returning to the throttle, kissing the apex, and going wide on the exit.

His slowest speed across the entire corner sequence was 185 kph, an unimaginable speed for a driver to take through a corner for the first time without building up confidence to do it at the end of the first free practice.

……..

While the drivers and the team were focused on the time and telemetry data of Fatih, Dr. Ernest was focusing on something else entirely: Fatih’s hands, his left hand to be exact. He kept taking notes every time Fatih removed his hand from the steering wheel when he sent the car aggressively into the curbs, leaving all the load-bearing and control to his right hand. His face didn’t betray any emotions of what was going on inside his mind as he just continued watching and jotting down everything he observed.

……..

“He is a man of consistency, as he is already two seconds ahead of any lap time driven in this free practice. Although these current laps are still warm-up laps and we expect an improvement of more than a second, if not two, by the end of the first session, it is Fatih who is currently showing everyone what is possible and what they will need to strive for. As he comes out of the final corner, he upshifts back as he tries to keep as much momentum as possible while shortening the line to the start-finish line, and it is a time of 1:25.348!

A TWO-POINT-FIVE-SECOND GAP HAS BEEN OPENED, AND THE CHALLENGE GAUNTLET HAS BEEN DROPPED AS HE IS NOW SLOWING DOWN! IT SEEMS LIKE HE IS PLANNING TO RETURN TO THE PIT LANE AFTER SETTING A GOOD, REPRESENTATIVE LAP FOR THE REST TO STRIVE FOR, BUT ALSO FOR THE TEAM TO GO THROUGH THE DATA AND HELP HIS TEAMMATES QUICKLY ADJUST TO THE PACE SO THAT THEY CAN RETURN TO PRACTICING WHAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO FROM THE GET-GO.”

“It is the strategic thinking of a man whom we have gotten used to not having to think strategically, as he is always ahead of the pack, dominating. But the problems he faced in his previous race weekends make it so that just being at the front is not enough, and more is going to be expected from him and his teammates, changing the way he and the team are going to be running this weekend.

But with the required practice forcing them to show their cards to their enemy, you should expect your enemies to come up with a counter or copy whatever you are doing to remove the edge you will have. So, what choice will Jewiss and JHR Developments make, as the two teams currently both have three drivers they can mobilize to allow for the best outcome for their drivers? It is now going to shift from just the capabilities of the drivers to also what the rest of the team and team members can bring to the table. It is the battle of teams.”