Formula 1: The GOAT

“I’ve never seen her this excited and openly looking forward to anything,” Brunhilde whispered to her husband, having caught Seraphina laughing widely while looking at the rapidly passing scenery out of the window, unaware that she had been seen by her mother.

Upon hearing what his wife was talking about, he raised his head to look at the rearview mirror, finding her in the same way, causing him to chuckle at the situation. His emotions were not limited to amusement but also gratefulness to Fatih and his family.

After all, it was he who had managed to slowly resolve her problem to the point where she could be seen fully looking forward to a public event, something that just a few years ago she would have done everything to avoid, to now being the one asking to attend the event on her own.

Upon her request, they agreed. After all, there was no harm in it, and it was also a way to show support for Fatih after his injury. Seraphina had even insisted on staying over for a few days, getting a green light from Fatih’s mom and grandparents.

“But it is a brutal schedule. You don’t even get to have a weekend to rest from school, and when you return, you have to catch up to the lessons missed on Friday…” Henry said while yawning as he tried to focus back on the road, having had to wake up at four in the morning to start their journey to the PFI track, which was a few hours away from Surrey.

They could only attend on Saturday and Sunday since spectating a race wasn’t a good enough reason for Henry to skip work and Seraphina to skip school.

“Well, to him, karting is a very enjoyable profession that he sees as a hobby, so I don’t think he considers any of it to be a tiring task,” Brunhilde said while removing a thermos flask from her bag, pouring the coffee halfway up the plastic cup before handing it to her husband, who drank it instantly, sobering him and chasing his drowsiness away.

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it,” Henry said, having already watched all the videos released on Fatih’s channel and the videos about his docuseries, of which he was an avid fan. But this was going to be the first time for everyone in the car that they would finally see Fatih on the track with their own eyes and not through a screen.

The couple continued talking, and after an hour, the car finally arrived in the parking lot of the PFI International circuit. They were lucky and found a parking spot before they left their car, each of them carrying an umbrella to shield themselves from the rain. After a few minutes, they finally entered the track and arrived in the grandstands, where they could see all of the action. With an ease no different from breathing, they spotted Fatih, who had a very distinct racing suit that the three of them had seen repeatedly in the videos they watched.

“He’s last?” the three asked themselves as they closed their umbrellas, seeing Fatih as the last driver in his group, with almost a full sector behind him to the next driver, making them wonder if something had happened and he was sent to the back.

But before they could get confused further, the commentator’s voice was finally heard, giving them context. “I can’t believe we are about to see someone getting lapped on the tenth lap of the first heat! I know he is a fearless monster with freak control in the rain, but this is completely different. It is as if he is driving on a dry track against everyone else driving in the wet!

AND HE ONCE AGAIN SHOWS HIS FEARLESS NATURE DESPITE THE LAST TIME HE RACED ENDING WITH AN INJURY! HE MOVES TO THE OUTSIDE LINE ON THE START-FINISH STRAIGHT, LEAVING THE INSIDE LINE TO THE TWO BACKMARKERS! AS THEY BRAKE FOR CAUTION INTO TURN ONE, HE JUST CRANKS THE STEERING WHEEL WHILE IN FULL POWER, OVERTAKING BOTH OF THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE LINE AS HE TAKES THE CURB OF TURN TWO!

HE HAS ALREADY LAPPED TWO DRIVERS, AND IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE HE IS SATISFIED WITH THAT AS HE CONTINUES CLOSING THE GAP IN THE BRIDGE SECTION! HE MOVES TO THE OUTSIDE LINE ON THE EXIT OF THE BRIDGE, GOES WIDE, CARRYING MUCH MORE SPEED THAN THOSE AROUND HIM, GIVING HIM AN ADVANTAGE ON THE DOWNWARD SLOPE!

THE ADVANTAGE CONTINUES FOR THE REST OF THE LONG STRAIGHT AS HE MAKES A MOVE ON THE INSIDE INTO THE HAIRPIN, GOES WIDE, SQUEEZING THE HELPLESS DRIVER HE IS FIGHTING BEFORE COMPLETING A V-TURN IN THE HAIRPIN, LAPPING A THIRD DRIVER! AND THERE ARE THREE MORE REMAINING IN THIS GROUP! IT MAKES YOU CURIOUS WHAT HE CAN DO IN THE REMAINING FEW LAPS OF THE SECOND OF FOUR HEATS FOR HIS CATEGORY!” George could be heard streaming through the speakers despite the loud sound of the rain hitting the roof of the grandstand.

“It makes you wonder if he is someone who feeds on driving karts, and for the past three months, he has been starving. Now that they have finally released him to eat his fill, you shouldn’t be surprised by how he is gobbling them up. After all, the accident led to him losing the WSK Champions Cup and missing another WSK Cup. For someone who had taken those titles every year he had participated, it must feel like an incomplete cough stuck in his throat, and only now can he clear it, so why would he stop there…”

As Lucas spoke, Seraphina found herself fully focused on Fatih, who felt like a completely different person from the one she knew. At the same time, she experienced the difference between watching it on screen and seeing it live and couldn’t help but get captivated even more.

For the past few years, she had been regularly driving Fatih’s kart to the point that her parents bought her all of the safety equipment as Fatih had started outgrowing his. She knew how difficult it was to drive with that much confidence in the rain, let alone in a competition.

“Mom, I want to compete in a karting competition,” she found herself saying just as Fatih went through the start-finish line, winning his second of the two heats already driven for their category, with seven cars having been successfully lapped amidst the constantly falling rain.