Formula 1: The GOAT

”MOOOOM!!!” Fatih shouted as he jumped on his mother, hugging her and nearly causing her to fall if he didn’t catch her, but she didn’t care as she hugged him back, jumping up and down, celebrating with him.

They remained like that for about a full minute before they finally separated. Fatih hugged his grandmother, but unlike how he had jumped on his mother, he was careful this time, before finally hugging Burak, who was smiling with his mouth wide open. As he hugged Fatih, both of them had tears in their eyes, before he finally hugged Elena, who was still with them.

When he was done hugging everyone, he kept looking back at the picture from his mother’s phone and rubbing tears from his eyes, as he couldn’t hold them back, no matter how hard he tried.

Finally, he had one leg into what he had dreamed and fantasized about for his entire previous life. Now it was only a matter of waiting until the day came when he would finally turn the dream and fantasy into reality. A journey of eighteen years was finally meeting the first step of the destination.

But even to his current family, this was still something they believed Fatih was fully deserving of celebrating, because since he got his first go-kart, he never wavered from his main target, not even for a moment, so it’s coming true was emotional for them as well.

When things finally calmed down, Rümeysa said, ”It is just an MOU, so we still need to go through some additional negotiations for the fine details. Is there anything you want to be included?”

Upon hearing the question, Fatih once again looked at the picture of the napkin and started going through one clause after another carefully, but he didn’t see anything that they hadn’t included that was of enough importance for him to want it to be put in a certain way.

His mother seemed to have covered everything he was worried about, like the promotion and the equal machinery part of things, so he said, ”I have nothing specific that I want to be added,” as he looked at the duration of the contract and felt like it was the perfect decision that she had made.

”I will have our lawyers go through this and include all of the things that our side will need....”

As Elena was talking, Fatih focused on a single clause: the one that guaranteed him an immediate promotion if he met certain conditions. His mind immediately started going to which races those race wins could be possible in, while he was driving in the AlphaTauri, which he knew would never win on pace alone and could only win through sheer strategy, along with unexpected things like safety cars, timing the weather strategy perfectly, and a few similar things.

He couldn’t help but have a smile on his face as he could see a few possibilities in front of him, his full focus silencing everything in his surroundings.

That night, he slept with a smile on his face, looking forward to tomorrow and the future.

...

{Five minutes to formation lap,} James updated Fatih on the radio as he sat within the car on the grid while the car was still raised by the front and rear jacks.

Keeping up with their simulation, they were doing everything as if it was a real race, so the mechanics were on the grid following the same procedures.

{Okay,} Fatih answered, but his response sounded as if someone who was in the middle of speaking was interrupted by something interesting, as the final parts of the word trailed off long before he stopped speaking. Anyone imagining that would be correct, as Fatih was currently looking at something he hadn’t seen in a long time: a system mission.

[CHALLENGE MISSION: A Challenge from Master]

Apollo has issued you a challenge on your first real-world race simulation in an F1 car. Are you confident in being able to face your teacher and beat him in equal machinery and with abilities limited to be equal to yours?

Mission Objective: Beat your teacher and win the race.

Reward for Completing All Objectives: A free upgrade of any ability to Limit Break

Punishment for Failure: -7,500 SP

[ACCEPT] / [DENY]

Fatih looked at the offer and found himself in a dilemma. It was too good an offer to just immediately deny, but the penalty itself was big enough to make him consider the mission carefully.

To upgrade any ability to Limit Break would cost a minimum of 15,000 SP, and if it included upgrading the ability from a low level as well, that amount would increase to more than 20,000 SP. So, taking any ability to Limit Break was something worth gambling 7,500 SP for.

”What about the pit stops?” he asked, wanting clarification on this, as it was the most important part.

”I will be having a pit stop as well, and they will add a second more to my pit stop time on top of yours,” Apollo said while puffing his chest, as if he was fully confident of winning despite the limitation of his abilities being equal to Fatih’s, with the only differentiator being experience.

”What if it is canceled mid-session or they change things?” Just like he was talking to a genie, he wanted to cover all of the bases before deciding to agree or not.

”Don’t worry, the mission is only valid if the race goes to the end,” Apollo said while still giving Fatih the side-eye.

{One minute to formation lap,} James called on the radio as the mechanics finally removed the tire blankets and lowered the car.

Fatih hadn’t made a decision yet.

{Thirty seconds,} James called half a minute later.

”If the formation lap starts, the mission will automatically be denied,” Apollo said, whispering in his ear.

Fatih closed his eyes for a moment before he reached up to the mission screen and pressed...

[ACCEPT]

The moment he did that, Apollo’s similar-looking car appeared in the P2 position and could be seen from his rear-view mirror.

The most difficult race of his new life was in place, as he knew this was going to be the first race where everything was equal, and he wouldn’t have any advantage and might even be at a disadvantage. But despite that, he was still looking forward to it, as he was finally going to face himself.