Formula 1: The GOAT-Chapter 242: Race Weekend | Saturday | Qualifying Heats

"Fatih YILDIRIM, without having to drive an additional lap, takes pole position, securing his starting position for tomorrow’s heat races at the forefront. His teammate, David Vidales, secures overall P2, with Seraphina taking the last podium position.

This makes group C the most dominant one, as it took all of the overall top three positions, and I’m curious to see how Seraphina will perform tomorrow when Fatih can’t just give her a slipstream like he did today. Because if she can’t hold her own, then all of the hard work Fatih did today will go to waste," the main commentator said as the feed showing the drivers focused on Fatih, who was ahead of Seraphina as they returned to the pit lane.

"I’m sure the same expectations are held by everyone who saw today’s exhilarating qualifying session, especially the final one," the co-commentator said moments before the feed was replaced by graphics showing the qualifying positions. Fatih’s image covered the right side of the screen while other positions appeared one after another as it moved to show the remaining drivers in the sixty-driver list, making it clear that it was the end of the live stream for today’s sessions for OK Senior.

.......

"We have a green flag, and we are ready to go for the first heat of the day! Fatih has a good start and immediately moves to cover his teammate, David Vidales, as they near the end of the straight into Turn 1. Seraphina uses this as an opportunity to try to insert herself on the inside line, but Fatih immediately shuts that door on her. This surprising move still allows her to keep some advantages in the following straight by sticking behind Fatih as she drives side-by-side with David Vidales, who was compromised on the entry, which in turn compromises his entry into the wide turn leading to the bridge section.

AND SERAPHINA USES THAT COMPROMISE TO STICK HER WHEEL AGGRESSIVELY AND TAKES DAVID’S POSITION AS SHE MOVES INTO P2 AS THEY ENTER THE BRIDGE SECTION! BUT FATIH HAD ALREADY OPENED A TWO-TENTH GAP DURING HER AGGRESSIVE ATTACK. SHE IS NOW LEFT TO DEFEND AS THEY ENTER THE LONG STRAIGHT.

THAT GAP WORKS TO HER BENEFIT AS SHE SLIPSTREAMS BEHIND FATIH, AND FATIH DOESN’T TRY TO BREAK THE SLIPSTREAM, THOUGH IT IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD FOR HER, AS SHE NOW HAS TO MOVE TO DEFEND AGAINST DAVID, WHO HAS A DOUBLE SLIPSTREAM FROM BOTH FATIH AND SERAPHINA! AND SHE SQUEEZES HIM UNTIL HIS RIGHT TIRES TOUCH THE GRASS, REDUCING HIS PACE AS SHE MANAGES TO KEEP HER SECOND POSITION!

HOWEVER, HER FIGHT WITH DAVID COMPROMISED HER SLIPSTREAM AS HANNES JANKER, WHO HAD KEPT ON FATIH’S SLIPSTREAM, BLASTS PAST THE TWO OF THEM WITHOUT ALLOWING THEM TO FIGHT BACK AT ALL AS THEY ARRIVE AT THE HAIRPIN, ENTERING ANOTHER STRAIGHT! WOW..." The heat race had started very excitingly as Fatih opened a gap as expected, but the fight for the top five was very interesting. Seraphina, used to being tortured by Fatih in practice, who never went easy on her, managed to maintain her P3 position at the end of the first lap as she started chasing Hannes for second.

"The checkered flag has been waved, and Fatih YILDIRIM takes the first win of the first heat of the day! Hannes, having taken the second position on the opening lap, manages to keep it at the checkered flag, followed closely by Seraphina, who finished on the last podium position after a mighty defensive battle against David, who comes home fifth behind Jonathan, who used a final lap Hail Mary dive that stuck to take fourth..."

"For the second time, Fatih Yıldırım takes the checkered flag first, and David comes second, followed by Pedro Hiltbrand, who completes the podium positions for the second and final heat for group C. Seraphina, unfortunately, was caught by surprise at the start and was squeezed off track, leading to her losing fifteen positions. Despite fighting back valiantly, she ended up finishing in tenth."

The other heat races went on accordingly, and before long, the final placement was decided. "And we have the final classification for tomorrow’s final race. The order is: FATIH YILDIRIM on pole position, David Vidales on the front row, Pedro Hiltbrand, and Noah Milell locking out the second row... Seraphina is the last driver to complete the top ten positions; her mistake in the second heat heavily harmed her... Moving from there in P11, we have..."

.......

"How do you enforce your position in non-clear-cut overtakes, where you don’t have a speed advantage, and you can’t just fly by? I have difficulty doing that when we are side-by-side," Seraphina asked Fatih after dinner, taking the opportunity to pick his brain.

Fatih took a moment to think about how to answer the question in a way she could understand easily before he said, "If you want to keep the position, you just have to be prepared to crash for it. At least projecting that mindset is enough to make the other driver back off most of the time, since crashing is not worth losing the position," giving her a diluted version of how he viewed overtakes.

"What if the other side thinks the same? Do you just crash?" she asked after imagining how she could project that intent.

"Then you only need enough control to avoid it," Fatih said without thinking much, but then realized that not everyone had the sensitivity and control he had, so he immediately added, "or reduce the collision to one that causes minimum damage and allows you to continue racing. That would guarantee a possible penalty for the other driver, so it’s not a complete loss for you even if you don’t complete the overtake."

Seraphina took a moment to think about how Fatih actually drove. The easiest example was the first heat race, where she immediately squeezed David to make sure he didn’t even think about attempting an overtake.

"Is there a reason it works as you say?"

Instead of answering immediately, Fatih picked up an empty cup and wound up before throwing it, causing Seraphina to flinch and cover herself, expecting the cup to fly in her direction. But nothing hit her, even after a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, she found that Fatih hadn’t even finished the motion of winding up; his hand was still hanging in the back.

"Instinct finishes the action in your mind and immediately gives you countermeasures while the action itself is still happening. You are targeting that instinct specifically since it is very difficult for people to practice preventing such things from happening when they are on the receiving end. But if you are the one initiating, there is no need to train for that since you know it is a lie from the start. You only need to sell it enough for the other driver’s instinct to take over. And if you can do that on the track, you won’t have too much difficulty in marking your position," Fatih explained in a calm tone, an ecstatic expression showing that his bluff had worked.

"What happens when they learn that I’m only bluffing?"

"You need to prove it to not be a bluff only once, and after that, they will be the one wondering if it is going to be another bluff or an actual crash-ready attempt," Fatih said, throwing his hands up as if there were no other choice when it came to having to crash to prove a point or create a certain image.

Upon hearing the answer, she rested her head on her hand, which rested on her knee, trying to think if there was any video of races where Fatih had actually crashed where he was the one at fault, but she found none at all, making her wonder if there was such footage because he was never put in a situation where he had to do it or he was just good enough that every time his bluff was taken as an actual threat due to how he sold it.

’I should try it tomorrow,’ she said to herself, thinking about implementing it now that she was starting all the way back in tenth position.