Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 344: Silverstone IX

1:26.710 - that was the lap time he put on the track after being sent out for the second time after being refueled with minimum fuel, improving by three-tenths on his first qualifying lap.

He then once again returned to the pit for refueling before he was to be sent out for the final push lap, as clouds were once again approaching and he risked rain starting at any moment.

Both Horner and Helmut were facing the pit lane after rotating their chairs, looking at Fatih, who was heading onto the track.

Horner then turned his chair to face Helmut, and they didn’t need to say anything at all as their decision had already been made and fully reinforced. They now knew they had a driver who, in tandem with Verstappen, would bring them the constructors’ title¹ so long as they had a competitive car. He then turned back to face the screens, ignoring the telemetry data showing Fatih in the middle of his warm-up, as he was curious to see if he was going to improve and either match or beat Verstappen’s lap time for the 2018 British Grand Prix.

For Horner, it looked to be a perfect situation: Fatih would be the junior, and Max would be the senior, creating the perfect competitive dynamic. But Helmut thought otherwise, as he knew the chances of one driver accepting a secondary role were null. But he didn’t worry at all; rather, he was looking forward to it happening.

He knew no matter how good a driver is, he will never perform at 120% if there is no one pushing him to the limit and forcing him to push himself further and further. He wanted to see the racing when the two monsters were in the midst of pushing and elevating one another’s performance, and more so on equal machinery, removing all of the competitive difference in the car.

By the time Fatih was in the middle sector of his qualifying lap, it was very clear that he was already improving compared to his final pace, and now all that remained was for him to just bring it home in the final sector and not lose any time.

They say the difference between a good driver and the best driver is that a good driver can choke under the pressure of expectation, but the best driver thrives within it. Fatih, as he completed the final sector with as perfect of inputs as anyone could, passed through the start-finish line, and the third sector turned purple¹, completing the single color for all three sectors of his final run.

He immediately lifted his foot from the throttle, letting the car continue with its momentum as it lost speed all the way through turns one and two before he braked and entered the pit lane from the exit end of it. The fuel they had loaded in the car was so aggressively minimal that by the end of the lap, there was not enough of it for him to go around the track, and he had to make the return as short as possible to avoid being stranded.

But thanks to that aggressive action, something beautiful happened as a 1:26.527 lap time was achieved, which had beaten Max Verstappen’s fastest lap from the 2018 British Grand Prix.

Although the lap was achieved by reducing as much weight as possible, including under-fueling the car, it was still something worthy of the reaction he received when he managed to return to the pit lane, as everyone came out of the garage welcoming him back with a standing ovation by the time he came to a stop.

Fatih just waved as his car was pushed back into the garage before getting off to the still-clapping crowd. He hugged Lisa, his chief mechanic, and started dapping and hugging everyone in front of him with his helmet still on and only the visor open. Although his full face couldn’t be seen, his eyes conveyed enough for everyone to know that he was smiling.

The team’s videographer and photographer recorded and took pictures of all of this, and it wasn’t long before a group picture idea was brought up. The car was dragged outside before he was made to sit on the tire while everyone who could stood behind the car smiling widely as pictures were taken.

If the photographer had shown the picture to anyone, they would see Fatih and his family along with Horner and Helmut standing together on one side, talking amongst themselves. The results of that conversation ended up with Fatih once again going home with all of the family except his mother, as she was having another meeting with the two people at the top of Red Bull’s motorsports food chain.

....

A few hours later.

"How about we put the basic agreed terms in writing?" Helmut suggested, making it very obvious that he didn’t want it to drag on.

Helmut already knew that despite both he and Horner issuing a gag order on the results of today’s session, news about this was definitely going to get out. Not only them but Silverstone management also had access to that data through the timing loop since they are the ones operating that system, so he wanted to have something in writing as fast as possible.

"Now?"

"Yes, we have experience in that," Helmut said as he picked a napkin and started straightening it as if he was preparing a piece of paper. Horner, not to be outdone, just removed a pen from his pocket, handing it to Helmut with a smile on his face.

This was exactly how they had poached Adrian Newey from McLaren, by signing the basic agreement on a paper napkin before McLaren could counter-offer.

"As long as it is a memorandum of understanding¹," she said with a look of ease, as she knew at the moment she had the upper hand in the current situation.

"It should guarantee us an exclusive negotiation period for a period of at least two weeks before you resume any conversation with other interested parties," Horner said, wanting to secure enough time to deal with the situation.

"A week," she answered back.

"Deal," Helmut said and wrote it down, as he knew even a week was enough to handle everything since he had an even shorter time to settle the Verstappen contract.

And so, for the second time, Red Bull was writing a contract on a napkin.