Formula 1: The GOAT

“I can now say that I’m looking forward to this competition, as the performance we have seen in the first free practice of Group A alone is enough to raise expectations for the competitive sessions,” Gianni Moretti said, commentating on the performance shown on the track in Italian as the drivers were now returning to the pit lane before Group B was allowed to enter the track to start their practice.

“The Russian, Alexander Vartanyan from Ward Racing, has shown a very dominant performance in this session, coming out with the fastest lap, followed closely by the Italian Tommaso Mosca from Mosca Diego, who was chasing very closely but failed to go faster than Alexander,” Martina, the second commentator, said in a youthful, excited voice as the final karts entered the pit lane and an official with a green flag in hand headed to the pit exit and stood there, waiting for the go permission before he would wave it and allow the Group B practice session to start.

“There are very few notable drivers who have shown a good performance, but these two overshadowed everyone else in this session. I wonder what surprises we are going to have in Group B’s session, as there are quite a few drivers who are entering the competition for the first time, and we might be in for another surprise like the first session here,” Gianni said. Two minutes after Group A left the track, Group B was finally allowed to join as the official at the pit exit waved his green flag, allowing all the drivers to go through.

Coaches pushed their drivers’ karts to start them as they began joining the track, wanting to make the most of the time.

“And a second ten-minute free practice session starts. It might sound like a very short time, but for these drivers, it is enough time for them to get the grasp of the track in a few laps before they go for an initial push lap, and even better for those who have experienced this track before. Please take us through the track,” he said, handing the mic to Martina to walk those who had just arrived through a basic understanding of what the session was as it went on.

…..

Fatih still stood on the far side of the pit lane, watching Enaam and Alex, who were his teammates, go around the track in Group B’s free practice, having done the same for Group A’s free practice, which Lando had finished overall fifth. But Fatih didn’t react negatively to it at all or think of him as inferior, as he remembered Fernando Alonso’s attributed quote, “If they celebrate being fastest in practice, then maybe that’s their championship.”

He occasionally listened to the Italian commentary, which he understood perfectly, to try to gather additional information that might not be in the dossier provided to him by TOSFED. And although it was very extensive, nothing beats the niche information that can’t be earned through research alone.

“…tih. …atih. Fatih,” but his focus on the track was interrupted by someone calling for him, which turned out to be Burak when he turned and saw him in the distance, waving at him to return to the tent.

Giving the track a final glance, he stopped leaning on the railing and jogged back to where Burak was waiting for him.

“We need to prepare now if we want to finish the inspection before your session starts,” Burak said, draping his hand on Fatih’s shoulder as they walked back to the tent.

Upon arrival, he collected his helmet, balaclava, and a few additional things before they headed to the pit lane, finding his kart already waiting for him.

He finished putting on all the gear and turning on all of the cameras on the kart, making sure they were all recording before getting in his kart as Burak pushed it to join the line of already arrived karts. There were still five minutes left in Group B’s free practice before his teammate Max joined behind him in the queue as officials started walking around and doing minimal checks, inspecting those that raised suspicion but passing those that looked normal.

As they waited, Fatih enjoyed the silence and calmness he felt whenever a helmet went on his head, as it allowed him to forget everything outside of racing. Everything else was filtered, and only information deemed important was provided to him, which was quite a good feeling to experience, as it left all of the brain’s free computing power to be solely focused on his driving.

“Go and make me proud,” Burak’s voice was heard as he pushed him, starting the kart as his group’s session had finally started.

……

“I can say that I’m very happy that Group B didn’t disappoint, and although no one matched the fastest time set in Group A’s session, we still came very close as Enaam Ahmed topped the charts in his group. The young British driver from Ricky Flynn Motorsport, which surprisingly has five entries in this category alone today,” Gianni said, butchering Enaam’s name, as it was not something an Italian would usually mention in their normal lives.

“Yes, I couldn’t agree more, and although they were not in the top three in the Group A session, all of their drivers who have set a time are in the top ten of their group. In Group A, we have Lando coming out in P5, and from Group B, we have Enaam topping the chart and Alex, who came in P8. Now we have two more of their drivers entering the track in Group C. I’m sure they expect and plan to not be too far behind their teammates and might even be trying to outpace all of them,” Martina said as the sound of paper being ruffled was heard through the speakers.

“I don’t know if you know this, but they have a very interesting driver of theirs joining in this session,” Gianni said in a teasing voice.

“Please enlighten me. I’m sure many are now curious based on how you said it,” Martina said, playing the game the way he wanted, knowing it was very good at keeping listeners’ attention and even giving people storylines to follow.

“The number 99 driver of theirs, Fatih Yıldırım, is participating in his first-ever international competition, but that is not even the most interesting part, which is that he is only ten years old,” Gianni said, revealing the bombshell.

“What do you mean? I’m pretty sure the KF-Junior category he is participating in has a license requirement that can only be earned when they are at least 12 years old. Shouldn’t he be in the mini category then?” she asked, acting as the viewer to probe for additional information.

“Well, that is the thing. He has been temporarily included in the FIA talented drivers list, which allowed him to apply for the exemption that was provided to him due to the career he had in his country before moving to the international scene.”

“Now, I’m curious. What sort of career did he have to warrant such a consideration from the FIA? I’m sure you already know, so stop dragging it, or else you risk us missing his performance,” Martina said teasingly, knowing that dragging it too long might not be good.

“He has won every championship he has participated in in his country since the age of five.”

“What? From five to ten, you’re telling me he won all of them?”

“Yes, and other than a few DNFs and penalties in his first season, he has won all of the races starting from his second year all the way to age ten, winning his country’s KF-Junior championship this year before moving internationally. It is something his country’s ASN (TOSFED) is very proud of, as they have it spread all over their official website about karting drivers in their country, which made it quite an easy find for us.”

…

As Gianni was bringing people up to speed on Fatih’s exploits, the scouts who were sent by different teams to observe and see the talented drivers they had on their radars or discover new ones immediately took note of the name Fatih. And although they considered drivers coming from the Turkish karting scene to be no different than footballers who come from other countries’ top football leagues outside of Europe – meaning it was not something exciting – they still decided to keep an eye on him because even from those leagues, there are sometimes players who transcend it and move to Europe and still perform well.

And as their eyes landed on the number 99 kart that was finally coming out of the final hairpin in a compromised line in order to carry as much speed into the straight, marking the start of his first push lap, both the scouts, spectators, and off-duty drivers all had their eyes on him, wondering what all of the hype the commentators were giving was about as they watched him.

Turn one was taken flat and smooth, turn two was sharper but still full throttle. He danced over the bumps like he knew them by heart. At turn three, he rode the exit kerbs without lifting, then braked early into turn four, skipping the apex kerb but catching the exit to stabilize the kart for the long straight.

At the marshal post, he braked early again, clipped the first apex cleanly, and flowed into the double-apex corner, missing the first but nailing the second with a smooth exit. Into the chicane, he just missed the first kerb and brushed the second, using all the exit space before the final triple hairpins.

He braked early into each, opening up the entries and maximizing exit speed through the last corner. Full throttle down the straight, completing his first officially recorded international lap as all of their eyes turned to the timing board to see the lap time for themselves, the moment of truth, where hype met reality in digits that would either confirm the legend or expose the illusion.