Formula 1: The GOAT-Chapter 245: Race Weekend | Sunday | Celebration

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Seraphina shouted and jumped on Fatih the moment she got out of the kart, forcing him to hold her so that she didn’t fall. He rotated with her, happy that she finally had a podium, but also because she was the first person he had taught to kart, so it was like a teacher seeing his student succeed.

"I can’t believe it! Podium! I got a podium! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she kept saying loudly as she raised her hands to the sky in a ’Y’ shape, expressing what she was feeling on the inside. To Fatih, it might be one of many race wins, but to her, it was her first-ever podium, and that too after many local races that didn’t come close to this at all.

They went on like that for a few seconds before he dropped her and hugged her as they jumped around in a circle. They stopped as they realized that they were not alone; almost everyone in the pit lane and the grandstands was looking in their direction. This caused even the normally unflappable Fatih to turn red under his helmet as he led the nearly frozen Seraphina away, back to their tent to give her a breather. Although he could tough it out, she couldn’t yet.

"Oh my god," she shouted as she squatted and hid her face behind her knees the moment they entered the tent. Fatih, looking at her, could have sworn that he saw steam rising from her head, but he needed to focus on the most important part at the moment, which was the upcoming interviews, along with the podium celebrations.

"Calm down. You need to calm down and collect yourself because there is an interview and podium celebration in a few minutes," Fatih said as he squatted next to her, trying to talk as levelly as he could as he patted her back.

"Can I not go?" she asked while turning her head slightly to peek at Fatih.

"Unfortunately, not. Missing the two events could result in penalties ranging from fines all the way to disqualification," Fatih explained what would happen if they did that before he added, "And we don’t want that, do we?"

Seraphina remained still for a moment before she nodded. Only then did she finally raise her head and ask, "But how can I handle it?"

"The same way you imposed yourself on the track and could ignore the crowd since you were fully focused on driving. How about you try to diverge and focus your attention on something else during the interview and podium celebration," Fatih said after thinking about it for a second. He wasn’t a doctor who had experience in dealing with such a situation, but since it was something that worked for her in one avenue, he thought it would be helpful for her to try to implement it in other scenarios as well.

It was at this moment that he was thankful her first podium happened while she was with him because he couldn’t imagine the nightmare her father would have had to deal with if it had happened when they were alone. Even at the moment, he was waiting outside of the tent, trying to make sure no reporters or anyone else entered to cause a mess.

"Focus on something else?" Seraphina asked, but it was more of a question to herself than to Fatih. She was now thinking about what she could even focus on during that time, and since her mind was already wandering, only a few options were coming to her mind. Before she could try to consolidate which ones were the best options, her father peeked in, and with a smiling and excited face, he told them, "They are saying we need to go to the interview area."

......

"Did you delete some of them or something?" Brunhilde asked on the drive home the next day as she looked at the photos on her husband’s phone.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked while still focusing on the road. Thanks to Fatih’s participation being finalized just a week before the race, it had resulted in the two families having to make two different preparations since the Seraphinas had already made their preparations a few weeks ahead of time, and payments, along with other things, were already finalized, making canceling very costly.

"All of these pictures, she is looking at Fatih," Brunhilde said as she pointed the phone screen to her husband, who took a fast look before returning to focus on the road.

"I don’t know, ask her yourself. I didn’t delete anything," Henry said, deciding to dump the explanation on Seraphina herself since she was the one looking away.

When Brunhilde turned around to try to ask Seraphina, she found her acting like she wasn’t hearing their conversation at all and was fully focused on what was happening outside the car window.

"He advised me to focus on something else, as I do when I’m racing," Seraphina said when her mother continued looking at her for a few seconds while saying nothing, making it clear that she knew she had heard them and was deliberately ignoring them.

"Why not try to focus on your father?" Brunhilde, knowing that it was an embarrassing topic, decided to continue teasing her.

"He was among the public; that wouldn’t help either," Seraphina gave her excuse.

"What about you jumping on and hugging Fatih? Was that in private?" Brunhilde doubled down.

In real time, Brunhilde could see Seraphina turn red, making her quite amused, but before she could tease her anymore, her husband interjected, "Some things happen in the heat of a moment, plus it is a moment to celebrate," earning himself a sidelong look from her, which shortly turned into a chuckle, followed by laughter, lightening the mood rapidly.

While the husband and wife were laughing, amused by the situation, Seraphina had her right hand in her pocket as she was constantly tapping her medal. She kept remembering the final few laps and how she had pushed and taken risks, which she realized was very exciting, and she now couldn’t wait to try and experience that same feeling again.