Formula 1: The GOAT

Chapter 348: Silverstone XIII

Apollo had a smile under his helmet as he started the second lap, 2.2 seconds behind Fatih, following him as if mirroring his every action.

Although he could close the gap to Fatih, he didn’t immediately push for it. He was planning on giving Fatih a sense of ease, letting him get used to being alone before he made his move and caught him off guard. At least, that was his first plan. To be able to do that, he needed to be at a large enough distance so that the hot and disturbed air ¹from Fatih’s car wouldn’t destroy his tires and overheat his engine. For that, the current distance was perfect.

LAP 3: No changes happened for the entire lap. Fatih drove the perfect racing line while Apollo kept the same distance.

LAP 4: No changes happened, as both Fatih and Apollo kept their distance and their racing lines.

This went on until LAP 13, when Apollo finally felt that Fatih had spent enough time alone to get complacent. He immediately started reducing the gap slowly enough to not be immediately noticed, but still fast enough that in a matter of laps, he was already under the full advantage of Fatih’s slipstream.

Under two laps, he was already behind Fatih, timing it perfectly so that he was under a second at the DRS detection area.¹ He immediately used the DRS ²on the Wellington Straight, flipping the rear wing open and reducing the drag ³experienced by the car on the long straight, along with the overtake, gaining on Fatih for the entirety of the straight.

But Fatih didn’t remain still and immediately moved to cover the inside line, leaving the outside line fully open for Apollo. Apollo, wanting to take advantage of the slipstream, followed Fatih there until he had enough of a speed delta difference ¹that he moved to the outside line and went past Fatih just as the braking points arrived.

Fatih used that fully to his advantage as he braked very late, putting himself side-by-side with Apollo, who seemed to have anticipated it and tried to do a switchback¹. But Fatih expertly parked the car on the apex and rotated wide and slow enough that it made a switchback only possible at a late point in the corner.

He went wide, but that was all within plan, since this allowed Fatih to take the inside line through Luffield, giving him a short advantage through the corner exit all the way through Woodcote. He couldn’t open up enough of a gap to put Apollo behind him, resulting in both of them being nearly side by side on the straight as the high-speed Copse Corner came at them very fast.

Both drivers looked at each other, making it clear that they were not intending to be the ones to brake or lift into the corner. Despite it being in the real world and not a simulation, Fatih, who was slightly ahead and on the inside, didn’t lift out of fear as he turned into the corner, fully expecting Apollo to do the same and for the two of them to go into Copse side by side.

But that was not at all what happened. Moments before turning, Apollo had timed his lift just as Fatih turned to look at the front, allowing Fatih’s car to fully be ahead as he started turning directly without loading the suspension, which, for him, who was on the leftmost side of the track, he had the freedom to do.

As Fatih went wide into the corner exit due to his shallow entry¹ attempt at high speed and into the dirty part of the track², Apollo, who remained on the track and the racing line, which had more grip than the dusty part, was already through by the time Fatih rejoined the track. This showed clearly that although everything was the same skill-wise, experience was enough of an edge to make equal drivers look unequal.

Fatih now chased Apollo, before having to slightly pull back before going through the Maggots, Becketts, and Chapel corner sequences, since being too close would cost him more than it would benefit him. But it was still close enough to give him DRS on the Hangar Straight, shedding drag for him as the rear wing opened, allowing him to close the gap.

Apollo, the ever-experienced driver, didn’t make any mistakes as he kept moving out of the way to avoid giving Fatih a tow ¹on the long straight, only for Fatih to keep chasing behind him. But the gap was still far enough that as they went into Stowe corner, Apollo was still ahead.

For the entirety of the LAP 14, Fatih kept probing him while remaining dangerously close to Apollo, which, had Apollo’s car existed in the real world, would have killed the tires and overheated the engine.

At the moment, this was not the reason he kept the distance that short, because he had already forgotten that Apollo’s car was not in the real world, as he was fully immersed in the race. So he was willingly keeping that distance and risking the engine overheating and his tires being killed for an opportunity to overtake, but Apollo never left an opening, even when he tried to pry one open.

In equal machinery, it was nearly impossible to pry one open from such an experienced driver, but Fatih didn’t give up either, as he repeatedly probed for an opening for the next five laps, making Apollo remain fully vigilant and pushing the car to the limit as well, only for Fatih to dive into the pits at the end of the LP 20, catching Apollo completely off guard.

He had finally realized that Fatih had forced him to push the car to its maximum pace so that the tires and the engine both overheated and would be out of their optimal operating window.¹ He wouldn’t be able to push too much while Fatih was in the pit lane, who would use the slow speed there to cool the engine and come out with newer and fresher tires. Although cool, they would not be overheated like Apollo’s, which would risk blistering ²if he kept pushing at this same pace to open up a gap.

"Nice thinking," Apollo said as he entered Hamilton Straight with a smile on his face, as he was fully enjoying this. Now the race had been divided into two different strategies, and depending on how the other performed, a win was still open for both of them.