Formula 1: The GOAT

{Fatih, you have yet to set your second qualifying lap,} James spoke on the radio, trying to remind him, as it seemed like he had forgotten.

{We still have twelve minutes on the clock. Give me the driver standings,} Fatih responded as he entered the start-finish straight.

{You are on pole. Then it’s Hoggard, Sulaimán, Jewiss, Alvarez, Allen, Doohan, Simmons, Hauger, and Tonteri. That is the top ten in order.}

{Are they slipstreaming him?}

{Yes.}

{….} The answer from James was met with a moment of silence as Fatih was in the middle of a corner, but also thinking about something before he said, {Where on the track are the other two?}

There was a short silence on the other side before the answer came. {Hauger is entering the start-finish straight, and Doohan is on the parallel straight by the Druids bend.}

{Can we reposition ourselves so that we can all be on the straights for a single car in consecutive straights to give them as much time as possible?} he asked immediately.

{Can you elaborate for Strategy?} James said, indicating that the strategy department wanted more information before seeing if it was feasible.

{We position ourselves so that when someone slipsstreams a car starting its session, the other two will meet it on a specific straight during the lap. As we move to the next straight, we do the same for the following car, which should mean we can sustain slipstreaming through all straights for all cars,} he tried to explain as fast and as concisely as possible. He had already realized that they needed to do something more than slipstreaming a car on a single straight; they had to do it on all possible straights to make sure they had as much chance of beating Jewiss’s time as fast as possible.

{Okay, we will discuss and adjust accordingly while also allowing the others to adapt to exploiting it. Meanwhile, go for that second lap.}

{Okay.}

……..

“It is the first time in my life I’m seeing tactics being discussed openly, not as a compromise, but as a direct feature of the tactic, since it also needs others to adjust their operations to fit into it,” Justin said with a hollow laugh, showing exactly how amused and bewildered he was about how things were developing in front of them.

“It is something other teams need to be in the know about for them to fully benefit from it, so discussing it openly is expected. I’m curious if they had discussed it before and are doing this just to make sure others hear of it, or if it is something Fatih is coming up with on the fly, adjusting to the situation,” Brad focused more on the way the plan was being implemented and made known to the other groups.

“They definitely discussed it ahead of time and are doing this to inform others of it because you can’t just go and brief other teams about what your plan is, as there is no telling how it is going to be received that way. With this method, they can have as much plausible deniability as they want since it is the TV director who is playing these radio conversations.”

“I would really love to be a fly on the Double R Racing pit wall to see what their reaction is and what they think about it,” Brad joked as the feed returned to Fatih, who was on the approach for his second push lap.

“There is no need to even see it to know what their reaction is going to be. After all, they are now in a situation where, despite knowing what the other side is doing, there is no realistic and legal way they can do anything about it.”

“And the flying Fatih is now going on his second push lap, and he is not looking like he has spent the last five minutes just slipstreaming other drivers! He passed Jewiss, who moved out of the racing line as he approached the corner, BUT THE TURBULENCE FROM JEWISS UNSETTLES FATIH’S CAR AS HE DIVES INTO THE CORNER, FORCING HIM INTO CORRECTIVE ACTION AND LOSING HIM TIME AS HIS LEFT REAR SLIDES WHILE HE FIGHTS FOR CONTROL! AND HE ABANDONS THE LAP! THAT WAS UNEXPECTED AND QUITE REACTIVE OF HIM, BUT HE IS NOT HAPPY AT ALL!”

As Justin commentated as loudly as he could, the feed changed to Fatih’s onboard, showing him holding his left hand away from the steering wheel as he opened and closed it again and again before the feed was replaced with a replay. The replay was still from the onboard camera, showing Fatih putting his left hand, which had been away from the steering wheel, back on it as he tried to stabilize the car and get it back on track, making it obvious that he was already feeling pain. As if to add more context, Fatih’s radio audio was also added as the replay repeated again.

{IS HE FUCKING BLIND OR WHAT?! WHY THE FUCK DID HE DO THAT THERE?! WHAT IF I HAD T-BONED HIM?! THEY BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, OR I WILL BE THE ONE TO DO IT IF THEY LET IT GO!} The shouting on Fatih’s radio made it clear that he was not happy in the least.

{We are on it, so please focus back on driving. Thank you,} James’s response came shortly, but it carried a hint that he, too, was surprised. And it was no surprise that James, the team, and even the commentators were caught by surprise, as this was the first time they had actually heard Fatih shout on the radio in anger and not while celebrating.

“That is a first from Fatih, and he doesn’t sound happy in the least, and it is understandable, because look at it,” Justin said as he watched the full replay, showing Jewiss, who was off the line, returning to the racing line, trying to take the corner before moving out of the racing line again, as if he had only just then realized that Fatih was on the track.

“That could have gone wrong in so many ways. In the context of the tension around the championship, and Fatih’s previous weekend ending in a crash, if you put all of those together, then his reaction is normal. If anything, had he remained calm, that would have been an abnormality.”

Just as he was done saying that, the radio conversation between Jewiss and his engineer was played.

{YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS A CAR ON A PUSH LAP!} Jewiss shouted into his radio as well, sounding pretty shaken.

{We did,} came the response before the audio was cut.

“What do you think the stewards’ action is going to be with this new context? Are they going to be lenient since he seems to have not heard the radio, or will they put their foot down?”

Instead of answering immediately, Brad was just heard laughing at the question, making it clear what was on his mind.