Formula 1: The GOAT

Fatih, unaware of the behind-the-scenes machinations, listened silently as Emanuel reviewed what he had already done before briefing him on the next steps.

“I wanted to brief you after seeing how you adapted to the initial gear changes, but you kept passing the benchmarks without any additional instructions, so let’s go through it now,” Emanuel said, handing Fatih a copy of the document he was holding, which contained the timetable and a list of things he was going to be learning.

“The schedule is flexible to accommodate the speed at which a driver learns, so think of it as a sequence in which we will be learning and nothing more. And from the pace you have shown, you will most likely catch up to the other two in a few days if you maintain the same pace,” Emanuel said as he removed a pen and started striking off all the sections Fatih had already experienced and passed with flying colors.

“So next is a standing start?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a benchmark set for completing the course?”

“Yes, there is, but even if you reach it earlier, you unfortunately can’t move to the next step immediately, since the actual driving dates are already set in stone and can’t be moved forward. So you will be with us until October 20,” Emanuel said the moment he caught on to what Fatih had in mind with his question.

“Hahaha, that’s good too,” Fatih said when he saw that he was caught, thinking to himself, ’At least I can watch the United States GP before getting in the car.’

“I have been curious about something, if it is fine with you?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Fatih said without a pause, looking up from the document in his hand to face Emanuel.

“Why did it take you three weeks when the other two completed their theory part in just three days? From what you just showed, it is pretty clear that you are not someone who needs three weeks for something the other two took only three days to complete. Or are you good in practice but bad in theory?” Just when he finished asking, he immediately realized how he had worded it. Before Fatih could answer, he added, “Sorry about the wording if you took it negatively.”

“No problem. As for your question, my theory lessons were extended to be very detailed and include everything I will encounter in the car. It is also the reason I applied the different driving styles during my first time driving, even if it was in the simulator,” Fatih answered as his eyes finally returned to the document in his hand.

“What? Just how comprehensive?” Emanuel asked, wondering how much could be crammed into twenty-one days instead of three.

“I don’t know exactly what the basic curriculum contains since I didn’t see it, but it should at least be a tenth of what I was taught, because I don’t think the other drivers were taught aerodynamics formulas or things like suspension geometry,” Fatih said calmly as he went through the pages in his hand.

His answer was caught not only by Emanuel but also by the other simulation technicians in the room. Their eyes couldn’t help but widen as they looked at one another, wondering if it was true, and if so, why he would even need to learn that in the first place.

Emanuel was so speechless that he gave up on asking any follow-up questions. He decided to talk with Denis later to hear everything from him because he just realized that the head of the simulation project, Markus Vettel, who had assigned Fatih to him, had severely misunderstood the situation. It seemed Markus had assumed the three weeks Fatih took for theory covered the same material the other two Red Bull Academy drivers learned in three days. This misunderstanding had led him to assign Fatih to Emanuel; if he had known the truth, he would have definitely led the simulation training himself.

“Okay, take a look at it during the remainder of the break time, and I will inform you when we are ready to go,” Emanuel said when he realized that Fatih was still waiting to see if anything was needed of him at the moment.

“Okay,” Fatih said before turning and leaving the control room, heading back to the simulation room where Alex was still waiting for him, visible from the control room’s clear glass.

Now left alone, Emanuel found himself in a dilemma: whether to tell Markus what he just learned and risk being removed from leading the project, or to not tell him and remain responsible for Fatih’s training, with the opportunity to create a relationship without the risk of being replaced.

For anyone sane and ambitious, the answer was pretty obvious: to say nothing as a means of returning the favor of Markus dumping Fatih on him when he thought he was a slow learner who had peaked in karting.

Having finally made a decision, he turned to the technicians and said, “Okay, let’s go through our new plan…”

…….

“Well, after all the pre-race razzmatazz, it is time for the proper rumble then. Welcome to the US Grand Prix here at the Circuit of the Americas just outside of Austin, Texas. We have flown 6,710 miles from Japan to the United States of America for what is the seventeenth round of the 2017 Formula One World Championship and the first weekend where the title can be decided. Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel are in contention, but Lewis Hamilton leads by fifty-nine points. The scenario is very, very simple: Hamilton will be the world champion today if he outscores Vettel by sixteen points and Bottas fails to win. Before that gets settled, we have fifty-six laps around this 3.4-mile circuit, with two DRS zones…”

Fatih watched silently as David Croft went through his opening monologue for the US Grand Prix. Having finally finished everything and undergone more training than initially planned, he was finally allowed to finish his simulation training faster and go watch the race with the rest of the team, who were left behind in Milton Keynes and had nothing else to do.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Alex, who was sitting on his left, asked.

“Hamilton,” Fatih said with full confidence.

He had already updated his betting website with the predictions, and since the race was about to start, all betting possibilities were closed. His betting side-business had reached its limit, and he had slowly seen the ripples of it spreading. Some members had started posting the predictions online or trying to use them to create their own prediction business through a similar subscription process. Some had even gone viral, becoming a point of discussion in Formula One circles, leading him to delay posting the predictions as late as possible while trying to find the source of the leaks.

He managed to find and expel a few, but some had managed to hide themselves too well, so the leaks continued. As a result, it had once led to things actually changing, though thankfully, the final results were the same, but it was enough to scare Fatih into reconsidering the direction for this side business.

His future knowledge of race outcomes was one of the benefits he wanted to exploit to his advantage when in a weak car that couldn’t win through pure pace alone. But the leaks now risked causing enough of a ripple effect that the direction and outcome of races might change. He had come to a decision: close the business at the end of this season.

He would also deliberately start increasing the amount of false information compared to the real data to slowly skew the accurate prediction percentage downwards before sunsetting the business under the argument that the prediction algorithm had reached its limit and couldn’t be trusted. It had already earned him enough money as seed funding, and the sale of his bitcoins would act as a replacement for any possible earnings he could have had from the website.

“Are you sure it is fine for you to mention that name while in a Red Bull auditorium?” Alex asked as he looked around to see if anyone had heard them.

“That time hasn’t yet come,” Fatih, pulled from his thoughts, said, knowing that in just a few more years, they would be in a war short of an actual fistfight when the 2021 season arrived. For now, there wasn’t much of a problem. “So what is your prediction for the winner?”

“Max,” Alex said as a matter of fact.

“Since he is starting from the back, fourth is the best possible finish he can have, I believe,” Fatih said with a chuckle, knowing that Alex said it just to fit the theme of his previous argument.

“Wanna bet?”

“Sure, what are the stakes? And just as a matter of fact, I’m a professional at this,” Fatih said, puffing his chest.

“The one who is wrong has to run around the track ten times,” Alex said.

“Sure. Pray that your stamina can handle that and you don’t end up dying in the middle of it,” Fatih said while extending his pinky.

“Hahaha,” Alex laughed as he linked their pinky fingers, officiating the bet.