Formula 1: The GOAT

“Paddock tickets?”

“Yes, paddock tickets for my family and me.”

Helmut thought about it for a moment before he said, “Sure, that works, but four tickets maximum. If you want more, I can help with discounts.”

Fatih smiled when he heard his request accepted. He knew that a single ticket of equivalent value was worth ten thousand dollars, meaning he was going to be given forty thousand dollars worth of tickets, along with a car that could be worth up to a hundred thousand. Although he was rich, needlessly spending that amount of money was not something he was comfortable with or even capable of doing without his mother’s permission.

“That is enough,” Fatih said and waited for a moment. When nothing more was said, he started to stand up to leave, but Helmut finally spoke.

“How about we make it more interesting?”

Hearing this, Fatih settled back into his chair, listening intently to the suggestion.

“I will elevate one of the tickets to be one of the junior driver experiences, where you will experience the weekend through the eyes of our drivers, including attending briefing meetings and all other activities. But in return, the same offer is extended to the other two drivers as well.”

This was already something they did with their junior drivers, but it was usually while they were in F2, not this early. However, there was nothing stopping them from allowing their younger drivers to experience it earlier than normal.

“I’m confident, so I have no problem with that,” Fatih said before he stood and walked out of the meeting room, informing the other two drivers that Helmut was calling for them before he went to resume his schedule.

……

While Fatih was going through his first session preparations, the other two drivers were holding their breath as they listened to Helmut.

“…Two hundred thousand dollars and four Paddock tickets is what you will get as a reward if one of you wins the title, or if you finish ahead of Fatih while also securing a top-three spot in the championship.” Helmut had set easier targets for them than for Fatih, with an even greater reward, to motivate them to compete against each other and against Fatih.

He wanted to give them the hunger to win, to the point that it broke the mental barrier that Fatih was always going to be faster, a barrier that had most likely formed in their minds during the practice and preparation rounds they had shared with him.

The two drivers just nodded their heads, not wanting to add anything. The rewards were enough of a motivator that they felt their competitive feelings rise from within. Their families were not poor, especially Jack Doohan’s, but the idea of having over two hundred thousand dollars, the experience of meeting F1 drivers, seeing how they work during a race weekend, and forming connections with people working directly in the sport was incredibly enticing.

……..

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the first free practice of the sixth round of the British F4 2018 season here in Snetterton. Today we will be racing on the 300 circuit, the longest of its layouts, and we are about two minutes away from the green light.

We already have some drivers waiting at the end of the pit lane, showing how much they want to have as much time on the track as possible,” Brad said, opening the broadcast for what was expected to be a quiet session, as nothing major usually happened. Paired with it being early in the morning, it made for the lowest viewership of the championship for an entire weekend.

“Well, time translates into confidence, which is directly correlated to track time and position on the race grid. To have a good race, a good starting position is a very good confidence booster, and that translates well into race performance. And who doesn’t want to start ahead?”

“Well, I believe no one does, but our most controversial driver looks very relaxed,” Brad said when the feed focused on Fatih, who was still out of the car, looking at a data screen even when it was only a few seconds before the session started.

“Well, information is an advantage, but there is no time for us to wonder as we have green lights for the session, and the drivers are already rushing onto the track,” Justin said as the feed changed from Fatih to the track, showing cars coming out of the pitlane and entering the Senna straight, the start-finish straight.

“And he is finally ready to join the rest of them,” Brad said, chuckling, when the feed once again returned to Fatih, who was putting on his HANS device, followed immediately by his helmet, before getting into the car. The mechanics helped secure him while he put on his racing gloves, and in a matter of a minute, he was finally cleared by the head mechanic to leave the garage and enter the pit lane.

…..

“Ooooh, that’s the third time. Didn’t the race director make it clear how to avoid cars on a push lap when you’re on a cool-down lap?” Brad said as the feed showed Fatih avoiding a car that remained on the racing line on a corner exit while he was approaching very fast.

“This looks less like ignorance and more like recklessness and inattentiveness from the drivers. This time, they avoided a crash because Fatih reacted very fast. They need to do something about it,” Justin said as the feed was replaced by a replay from Fatih’s point of view, showing that the car had appeared out of nowhere on the corner exit, based on the way the barrier was positioned leading into the Brundle and Nelson chicane.

“Isn’t it happening three times already, moving it beyond being called just recklessness?” Brad asked, creating the idea that it might not be accidental.

“What do you mean?”

“This is the third time it has happened, and they keep getting more and more dangerous, and all of them are around one driver. Doesn’t that make it clear?”

“That is too big of a jump in logic. All of them looked like genuine mistakes, and we only see them because he is the main focus of the live feed. At least, that’s how I see it.”

The two of them discussed the matter back and forth, on whether it was normal accidents or deliberate actions, in a tone mixed with both banter and seriousness, before the feed once again returned to Fatih.

“Take us through this lap, and let’s see if what you’re saying is true,” Brad intervened, not wanting to keep talking about the same matter.