Formula 1: The GOAT

(There was an election in my country, Tanzania, and a protest erupted so they shut down the internet)

“So what are your thoughts on the contracts? Anything you want to be included or kept out?” Rümeysa asked Fatih after Elena finished giving them a detailed breakdown of the agreed-upon articles. This marked the start of their in-depth discussion, now that they knew Red Bull’s position.

“Can we include an article regarding being demoted back to the lower team, or limit it to only being possible when the situation is related to performance?” Fatih asked, knowing how whimsical Red Bull was regarding promoting and demoting their drivers.

Although most of the time their demotions were a result of their ruthless performance expectations for the drivers in their main team, it sometimes led to drivers not being given a full season before being demoted. A good example is Daniil Kvyat, who, despite leading the two Red Bull drivers in the main team and beating Daniel Ricciardo, was instantly demoted after a string of accidents to have Verstappen replace him in the middle of the season.

“That is one of the most contentious points that I also brought forward during the initial negotiations, but Helmut dug his heels in, not agreeing to anything regarding it. He argued that we are trying to take away one of the team’s key strengths, and doing so would result in the contract being too favorable to the driver, putting the team in a weak position. He seems to be seeing this as one of the weapons they can use to keep drivers in check should they go too far out of line.”

“So any sort of negotiation regarding that part is a red line they are not willing to cross?” Rümeysa asked, quite surprised that this was one of the hills Red Bull was willing to die on.

“It seems so, and as a result, it allowed us to get concessions on other clauses, like the guaranteed promotion to the main team if he is among the top two of the four drivers across the main and sister teams.”

Fatih took a moment to consider how this clause might affect him in the future. Knowing his capabilities, paired with the simulation and Apollo, he was confident that his chances of being one of the top two drivers under the Red Bull banner were guaranteed, unless he was too unlucky and faced too many mechanical failures or other issues out of his control. The problem was that those calculations were done under the assumption that he would race for a whole season. According to the soon-to-be-revealed super license rules, having a full debut year would be very difficult.

His birthday was May 16, 2003, which meant he would turn eighteen after four rounds of the 2021 season had already passed. He would only have four days before FP1 of the Monaco GP to finish all the remaining requirements for his super license. This included getting a driver’s license, completing a total of 300km at a competitive speed, and passing the FIA theory test before sending his documents for approval. Per the contract that demanded he debut as soon as he was eligible if he met the conditions, this meant he was most likely going to debut at the Monaco GP. This would put him at a four-race disadvantage against the other Red Bull drivers he needed to beat in order to be guaranteed promotion to the main team in the 2022 season.

Although Mercedes had managed to lobby for the rules to be relaxed to allow 17-year-olds to participate in free practice in 2024, it was going to be very difficult to have the same changes made earlier without heavy lobbying, which other teams would definitely be against. 2021 would be only four years since the Super License rule was put in place in response to Max Verstappen debuting at the age of 17, and the FIA was still enforcing the strict rules.

Although they were relaxed slightly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow drivers to use their best three seasons for the super license requirements, the chances of the age requirement being relaxed were very slim, especially considering that those who wanted the change were the reason the rule was created in the first place. So, although Red Bull could try, Fatih was planning based on the possibility of the FIA denying their request, forcing him to wait four races before he officially joined the season.

Although the promotion clause only guaranteed his promotion if he was among the top two drivers, it wasn’t the only way he could be promoted, though it was the only *mandatory* way. There were other avenues, such as showing enough performance in his own team. Since Perez was only on a one-year contract at that time before getting a one-year extension in August, a strong performance could make a difference. If Fatih used his simulation time to practice and his memory of how races were affected to exploit situations to his benefit, he could deliver a performance beyond the car’s abilities. In theory, that could also guarantee him a promotion, and it was the best year for him to do that.

“Then, can we add a clause that also guarantees my promotion if I finish on the podium in any race during my season? If they deny that, we can then have it be limited to me winning a race,” Fatih suggested another clause. Based on how some of the races were affected by weather and other in-race situations, it was not impossible for him to clinch at least a win if he set himself up to perfectly exploit them.

“You do know that if you were to debut in F1, it would be under Scuderia Toro Rosso, which finished seventh in the championship standings this year, right?” Elena asked, curious about his reasoning, as the chances were very low.

“The chances of it happening are higher than me beating the second driver of Red Bull, who will be in a fast car. Plus, you do know that Scuderia Toro Rosso had their first win before the main Red Bull team did, right? So who is to say that a perfect situation might not happen where I get to be on the podium or even win a race?” Fatih countered, knowing the level of performance Checo was going to deliver in the 2021 season, which had him finish fourth in the standings, albeit with 190 points, not even half of what Verstappen managed to gather by the end of the season.

“I will have it included and will start by setting it as a top-five finish. If they try to negotiate, then we can move to podium positions,” Elena said after a moment, nodding. She found no reason not to agree with it; her only hesitation had been to remind Fatih of the difficulty and that including this clause might result in them having to give up something else.

Fatih smiled upon receiving a positive response. After all, he now had a better way to guarantee his promotion, and although that might mean Perez was going to have to look for another seat, that was not something he planned to worry about at all.

Their discussion continued, with Rümeysa also providing her own input, clarifying which points were flexible and which they must not budge on, before the meeting that took more than three hours finally came to an end.

“Then I will take these new things and have our lawyer go through them before we send them back to Milton Keynes for additional back-and-forth negotiations. If things go without a hitch, we should have an agreement before the year ends.”

“Thank you for your hard work in advance,” Rümeysa said, extending her hand for a handshake while chuckling, knowing the nightmare that awaited Elena during the negotiation period.

“I have to earn my keep,” Elena said, reciprocating the handshake before they started walking together to the door to see her off.

“See you later, Fatih, hopefully with a contract for you to sign,” Elena said as she waved to Fatih, who had also come to see her off. She quite liked the talented kid she was working for.

….

That night.

“You really want to start in the messy season and not wait for the 2022 season?” Apollo teased Fatih the moment he entered the VR for his next installment of the nightmarish training that he had started receiving.

“It is the best season for a driver who wants to make an impression from the start, and isn’t it better that I start the next regulation circle, where the car will be completely different, in the main team where I will have the advantage of knowing my car better than anyone else from the first race, giving me enough time to adjust my driving for the new season? If I start with Red Bull, then my chances for the world title are going to be very high if my involvement doesn’t result in Ferrari not making the same mistakes they did in the 2022 season,” Fatih said with a smile that made it clear that he was daydreaming of himself being on the top F1 podium position as the Turkish national anthem blared through the speakers.

“Isn’t it the same for the 2021 season, where your involvement might result in some things not happening, other than the weather, which no matter what you do, will not be affected?” Apollo asked, wanting to see what Fatih had in mind.

“That is a possibility, but I believe at least the things that happened without the inclusion of an AlphaTauri driver should remain closer to the past, or at least that is my theory. Or, things that happen at the front will not be affected by my inclusion, so I can still exploit them. Even if they change, my plans will not be fully dependent on things happening as they were, as other knowledge is still enough to give me an edge, like what tire is the best for the season, so that I have as many of them as possible during the final race, what strategy is fastest, and such. Those should still be to my benefit.”

“True, but let’s leave the daydreaming for later and come back to the present,” Apollo said, snapping his finger. In an instant, Fatih found himself in a kart that was at maximum speed and in the slipstream behind Apollo, with just enough time for him to see which track he was on, remember the types of corners, and decide if he should go for the overtake or brake as fast as possible to avoid another round of body reconstruction.