Formula 1: The GOAT

”I know we rushed to lock things down to prevent McLaren and Mercedes from snatching him, but aren’t these penalties quite harsh?” Horner said as he looked at the now-signed and ratified contract that still had wet ink.

The single paragraph from the napkin negotiations had now turned into a full-page breakdown of what achieving the promises would look like, while also highlighting the penalties if Red Bull were determined to be responsible for not keeping their side of the deal, before things like Force Majeure and others were taken into consideration.

”Why are we setting ourselves up to pay a doubling fine for each race if he is not promoted when he achieves the agreed-upon race wins or podiums?” Horner said as he showed the penalty points, which indicated that if Fatih won two races or had four podiums and was not promoted to the main Red Bull team by the next weekend, barring a mutual agreement to delay it, Red Bull would be paying a fine of a million dollars starting the next race, doubling for each race he was not promoted if the decision was solely made by Red Bull.

”The team, since its inception, has had only three podiums and a single race win, with two of the podiums scored last season. For him to be promoted, he needs to either win two races for a team with only a single race win or get four podiums for a team with only three podiums since its inception. What is there to worry about?” Helmut said, relaxed, as he knew this was the only reason the higher-ups had given a green light to such a condition. They had considered it to be an unachievable condition from the start, but one that needed to be agreed upon to keep a Verstappen-caliber driver under them.

”....” Horner couldn’t say anything against that since it was the truth.

”Plus, if he can do that, then don’t we already need him for the main team to fight for the constructors’ title?” Helmut added.

”So when is he moving to Italy?”

”He is not moving to Italy, as he is in his final year of A-levels, but he will be traveling there on Fridays after school and returning Sunday or traveling with the team to race weekends,” Helmut said. With Fatih now signed, they immediately didn’t waste time and planned to have him spend time in both the simulator and go on race weekends with the team as a team member to learn everything so that by the time he was ready to debut in 2021, he would have everything outside of driving the actual car already settled, leaving him to focus on a single thing.

”Any idea if he is going to go to university or not?” Horner asked when he remembered the information he had learned about Fatih’s academic excellence.

”He is going to go to university.”

”Majoring in what?”

”He is looking for a double major and one minor, though he hasn’t specified which fields yet, but it is very clear.”

”Mechanical engineering and aerospace for majors, then? But what is the minor?”

”I think it is either materials science or something within those ranges.”

”But can he really do that and actively race?”

”There is no harm in trying anyway, and he is smart enough to awe engineers at Milton Keynes, so who knows,” Helmut said, pushing the topic aside since it was not clear, as the other side hadn’t specified exactly what they were planning to do on that end, leaving them to speculate.

”Shouldn’t you tell them about his feedback talent and how they can develop and use it for themselves?” Horner added as he put the contract down. Fatih had shown remarkable diagnostic abilities, along with quite clear feedback on what possible solutions might be, to the point that it surprised the engineers during his pre-TPC simulator practice.

”That is something they should discover and deal with themselves. It is their job to develop the drivers,” Helmut said before he stood up and left the meeting room with a smile on his face, as his wish was now one step closer to being a reality.

...........

Fatih, on the other hand, was still on cloud nine, to the point that he nearly forgot about the system prompt he had received when his mother put her signature on the contract as his signatory, since he couldn’t sign anything and have it be binding due to his age.

He finally remembered about it when he logged into the simulation for his daily practice, only to be welcomed by fireworks going off, covering the entire night sky of the brightly lit Silverstone track. Apollo, wearing a neatly fitted suit, stood clapping in front of him as he rubbed mock tears from the side of his eyes.

”To think such a shabby driver who is still wet behind the ears will be driving at the pinnacle of motorsports, it really shows how the sport has fallen,” Apollo said in an emotional voice as he approached Fatih and hugged him.

Fatih had a blank look, or at least he was trying to have one, but the muscles on his cheeks were not cooperating at all, as he couldn’t help but smile at the situation. He was still in a trance and feeling ecstatic from the moment the contract was fully signed, and everything was set in stone.

”So, are you going to take a look at your completed mission now, or are you going to delay it again until you reach F1?” Apollo asked in a teasing voice, knowing that Fatih was never in a thousand years going to delay receiving his reward from having completed the mission when he was already in debt. He also knew that upgrading his abilities ahead of time would allow him to assimilate with them faster, allowing him to be a fully sharpened knife when he entered the F1 grid during a year that had a rivalry between two teams and drivers who would be leaving everyone, including their teammates, in the dust. He didn’t want to be among those left in the dust.

”Nothing is going to change, no matter how I delay it, so why do that?” Fatih said as he opened the system prompt. As if it had been waiting for him, the screen appeared in front of him and started listing everything he had done since the Experience Mission #002 was initiated when he had retired from karting and was planning to move to single-seaters.

......

[Experience Challenge #002]

It is a continuation of the previous mission, but now prepared for the single-seaters.

Mission Objective: Do not use SP to upgrade any ability during this time. Compete in a single seater with your current abilities to push your understanding of them to the limit.

Objective Completion Reward: The reward is dependent on the results you deliver with the use of your current abilities, with a potential automatic upgrade in ability should you train them to their breakthrough limit during this period.

Restrictions: Purchasing new abilities will not be allowed during this period; however, they will be at a twenty percent discount should you remain patient until the end of the mission.

Exception: You can gain new abilities should you reach the thresholds for their capabilities to assimilate into an ability, but they, too, will be under the restriction of being non-upgradable using SP during this period, though they can be upgraded through breaking their ceiling limit. You can also continue gaining them should they be a reward for a mission, and you successfully complete the given mission.

Fatih looked at the mission breakdown for the second time before clicking on it, and it immediately changed.

[CHALLENGE MISSION: Experience Challenge #002]

STATUS: COMPLETE

Yearly Events Breakdown:

2018: (Single-Seater Debut, British F4 Championship)

Events: 10 Rounds (30 Races). Participated in 6 Rounds (18 Races) after a 12-race ban due to age ineligibility.

Total races participated: 18

Race Wins: 15

Podiums: 15 (All wins)

DNFs: 2

Pole Positions: 6

Fastest Laps: 15

Titles Won: 1 (British F4 Drivers’ Champion)

2019: (FIA Formula 3 Championship)

Events: 8 Rounds (16 Races). Missed the first round (2 races) due to age ineligibility.

Total races participated: 14

Race Wins: 8

Podiums: 10

DNFs: 1

Pole Positions: 5

Fastest Laps: 9

Titles Won: 1 (FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Champion)

[Hidden Achievements]

Total titles won: 2.

Reward per title: 300 SP (F4) + 500 SP (F3)

Total reward: 800 SP

Fastest Lap Streak: 24 * 5 SP

Total reward: 120 SP

Grand Slam Weekends Streak: 6 * 10 SP

Total reward: 60 SP

Pole Position Streak: 6 * 10 SP

Total reward: 60 SP

[Achievement Unlocked]: The Great Equalizer - Win a championship after being at a significant deficit (40% of the season).

Reward: 1000 SP

[Achievement Unlocked]: Against All Odds - Win a race from the back of the grid. (x3)

Reward: 150 SP * 3 = 450 SP

[Achievement Unlocked]: Rain Master’s Debut - Win your first wet race in a new category.

Reward: 250 SP

[Achievement Unlocked]:Unbelievable Comeback - Win the title on a tie-breaker.

Reward: 750 SP

[Achievement Unlocked]: Untouchable - Achieve 15 consecutive victories in a single-seater category.

Reward: 1500 SP

[Hidden achievements total: 4990 SP]

[Experience Challenge #002 rewards:]

2x multiplier for the record-setting single-seater career.

(7500 SP [Base Mission Reward] + 4990 SP) * 2 = 24,980 SP

Ability upgrade for the excellent use of it during the season.

Racecraft (Excellent → Genius)

20% price discount on all system abilities for a year.