Formula 1: The GOAT

“So we expect rain to start coming on lap three?” Fatih said as he looked at the sky, which was getting cloudier and darker by the second.

“If we start on time,” James said, emphasizing that part.

“The worst of situations,” Fatih said, knowing it would create chaos when it started raining.

They continued talking and going through their plan for a few minutes before he was reminded that there were only a few minutes left, and he needed to head to the track and get ready for the race. Not one to waste time, he immediately put on his balaclava and helmet before getting into the car. The mechanics helped him put on his seatbelt, and within just two minutes, he was already in the fast-lane of the pit lane.

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to new viewers and welcome back for those who were with us yesterday. It is the first of the two remaining races in this long, exciting, and breathtaking championship. The two title contenders are 37 points apart, and although that might sound like a big gap to cover, which it is, this second race specifically creates a situation where Fatih has an advantage over Jewiss.

Even if they theoretically finish in P1, Fatih will still have gained seven more points due to him receiving bonus points for each overtake from P8 to P1 due to his reversed grid position. Jewiss, who finished in P9 and will start from the same place, even if he wins, will not be earning the same bonus points as Fatih.

But as we all know, it is impossible for both of them to win the race, and with rain being expected, this is going to be a very exciting race, even without the massive championship title chase we currently have.

Let’s not waste any more of your time as the lights go green and we start our formation lap. All preparations, all practice, it’s all out the window now. It is up to the drivers to decide how things go in this race.”

“Well, there is the rain that might have a say as well,” Brad joined in as the feed showed the drivers going around the track.

“AHAHAHAHA, that too might have a say. Who do you think will be better off in the rain between the two?”

“Well, no matter how good Fatih has shown his wet-weather driving capabilities to be, it is a different situation completely to try and drive in that condition for the first time, and to have it happen during a race, and one as monumental as this. So I will go with Jewiss having an advantage since he has already driven more than two wet races in F4 and won both of them, so he will have more confidence in pushing than Fatih would.”

“I disagree.”

“Why?”

“During these past two weekends, I decided to refresh myself on his history, so I watched all of the series of his karting career from both his YouTube channel and Netflix. I would like to remind you that his first-ever official race in his life, at the age of five, was driven in the rain. For those who don’t know how it went, I recommend you watch it on his YouTube channel.

He started from pole, but a mistake from one of the drivers sent him into the wall and to the back of the grid. He spent the entire rest of the race clearing a field of more than 39 other drivers. By the fifth lap, he had already overtaken twenty karts and went on to win that race. That was not his only wet-weather performance that showed he was above everyone.

He is on the track when the track gets wet, so I won’t count him out yet,” Justin, ever Fatih’s supporter, reminded everyone that although Fatih had yet to do so in F4, he had done it in his first-ever race.

“Now you are making it out to be a very exciting watch when the clouds start crying,” Brad said sarcastically, as he knew that although a million people had watched the race live yesterday, at the moment, that number had already increased by more than half a million due to all the hype that yesterday’s race had compounded on top of the already building hype about this situation.

“Well, the time for hypotheticals is out of the window as the drivers are now entering their grids one after another,” Justin said as the feed, which was looking towards the start-finish straight head-on, started zooming inwards until it showed Fatih heading into his grid box before it panned away from him, showing Jewiss close behind, also entering his grid box. It then zoomed out, leaving the two of them as the main focus of the camera.

“The final driver enters the grid box, and we have green flags! AND IT’S LIGHTS ON AND LIGHTS OUT! AND AWAY WE GO AS PAAVO TONTERI HAS A GOOD START, MOVES TO COVER HOGGARD AND KEEP THE LEAD AS WE HEAD INTO TURN ONE!

HOGGARD GIVES UP AND TUCKS BEHIND TONTERI, BUT THE MOST INTERESTING PART IS FATIH, WHO IS NOW UP TWO POSITIONS AFTER HIS TEAMMATES WHO WERE IN FRONT OF HIM DIDN’T FIGHT HIM ON THAT!

THEY MOVED TO COVER JEWISS, WHO, DESPITE HAVING A GOOD START, REMAINS IN THE SAME POSITION INTO TURN ONE AS THEY ENTER THE SHORT STRAIGHT IN A TRAIN! BUT SEEING AN OPENING, HE TRIES TO MAKE A MOVE ON THE INSIDE LINE AS THEY APPROACH TURN TWO!

HAUGER, WHO WAS IN FRONT OF DOOHAN, MOVES TO COVER THE INSIDE LINE AS DOOHAN REMAINS ON THE RACING LINE, CLOSING BOTH DOORS TO ANY OVERTAKE ATTEMPT ON THE OPENING LAP! THEY ARE NOT LETTING HIM TAKE ANY BREATH OR GAIN ANY POSITIONS!

FATIH, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS NOT MOVING TO TRY AND CREATE A GAP, AS IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE STILL APPLYING THE DOUBLE SLIPSTREAM THEY PRACTICED IN THE PRACTICE SESSIONS! HE IS STILL LOCKED WITH HIS OTHER TWO TEAMMATES, PUSHING THEM AHEAD WITH HIM!

THEY BOTH MOVE TO DIFFERENT LINES AT THE END OF THE STRAIGHT HEADING INTO THE SURTEES LEFT-HANDER, BOTH SEPARATING FROM THE SLIPSTREAM BUT ALSO CLOSING ANY POSSIBILITY OF JEWISS ATTEMPTING A DIVE! IT IS A NIGHTMARE FOR JEWISS AT THE MOMENT AS THEY ENTER THE LONG AND ELEVATION-CHANGING STRAIGHT!

THE THREE ARE NOW ONCE AGAIN BACK TO SLIPSTREAMING ONE ANOTHER, WITH JEWISS TUCKING HIMSELF BEHIND THE THREE OF THEM, CREATING A TRAIN! AND ALTHOUGH HE WOULD USUALLY BE THE MOST BENEFICIAL IN THIS, ANY TIME HE ATTEMPTS TO MAKE AN INSIDE MOVE, A CAR TWO POSITIONS AHEAD OF HIM MOVES INTO HIS LINE WAY BEFORE IT COULD BE A PROBLEM! THEY CAME PREPARED, AND THEY ARE KEEPING UP WITH THE PLAN!

BUT AS MIKE TYSON SAID, EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE, AND THAT PUNCH HAS ARRIVED, AND EARLIER THAN EXPECTED, AS RAIN HAS STARTED FALLING ON THE FINAL SECTOR AND IS ALREADY MOVING TOWARDS THE ENTIRE TRACK! WE THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE ON LAP THREE, BUT IT SAID, ’NO, I WILL COME ON LAP ONE,’ AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE TEAMS TO DECIDE ON WHAT TO DO! AND WE STILL HAVE THE FINAL SECTOR OF THE LAP REMAINING FOR DECISIONS TO BE MADE!”