Formula 1: The GOAT-Chapter 259: Race Weekend | Sunday | Race II (IV)

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" the two commentators shouted in unison as Hoggard’s car swerved left, directly into the path Fatih’s car was already taking, putting them on the verge of a massive crash.

Screeeeeeeech! White smoke billowed from Fatih’s front tires as they locked up under the immense force he applied to the brakes. With the bias set to the front, the rear end slid out, trying to overtake the front axle. Fatih instantly counter-steered, catching the oversteer just before the point of no return. The resulting sideways drift scrubbed off enough speed that Hoggard’s move didn’t end with a collision.

"HE’S LOCKED UP AND SLIDES TO AVOID THE CRASH! WOW, what a fast reaction, but that was a very dangerous move from Hoggard," Brad was the first to speak. Fatih masterfully used the slide and his counter-steering to navigate the corner. By the time the start-finish straight appeared, he was already pointing in the right direction and simply got back on the power.

"That is a clear-cut penalty move from Hoggard, and I would be very surprised if they don’t give him one. Fatih’s tires took a beating, though. I hope it’s not to the point where he has to pit. Because it was in a slow corner, he might get away with it, but if that had been a high-speed corner, it would have been a definite flat spot requiring a pit stop," Justin said, leaving no doubt about his opinion.

"You have to give it to him for his rapid reac........" Brad started speaking, but had to stop as Fatih’s radio communication started playing.

{How are the vibrations?}

{Manageable at the moment. Gap to the leader?}

{Three seconds. Is the data on the brake bias correct, or is it a glitch on our side?}

{Deliberate, to avoid the front tires locking up again until the flat spot has worn down.}

{Understood.}

{Keep updating me on the gap in each sector.}

{Understood. Currently 2.9 to the lead.}

Following that update from James, Fatih did not speak and resumed driving.

"They are not even talking about Hoggard at all. Was that not included in the radio communication shown to us?" Justin asked.

"I don’t think so. They are not talking about him but focusing on the gap to the leader because they already see it as a foregone conclusion that Hoggard will receive a penalty. The only one they have to care about is the race leader, Ayrton Simmons."

"I wondered why he sounded so calm when he just avoided a race-ending crash by drifting. I mean, look at that reaction and control from him," Justin said as the replay showed the incident in slow motion, which made Fatih’s unplanned drift look very cool.

"It looks cool, but he is definitely smelling burnt rubber in the cockpit and feeling the vibrations with his entire body," Brad joked before the feed returned to showing Fatih on the long straight, starting sector two.

"Him having to shift the brake bias to the rear to avoid upsetting the front for a few laps is going to harm his pace. And just as we were talking about that, the stewards have decided: A DRIVE-THROUGH PENALTY FOR JOHNATHAN HOGGARD! THAT IS ABOUT A TWENTY-FIVE-SECOND PENALTY, GIVEN THE TIME THAT WILL BE LOST IN THE PITLANE AT THE 60KM/H SPEED LIMIT."

"That’s a very harsh punishment," Justin said. Despite having made it clear that the offense was punishable, he felt a drive-through was too harsh.

"You can see it as the stewards setting an example because he dangerously defended and moved twice when already committed to a position. Also, consider the crash that would have happened had Fatih not reacted fast enough to avoid it. So, for me, I can understand the penalty being this harsh."

"For me, it is harsh. A five or ten-second penalty could have conveyed the same message," Justin maintained his position.

"Well, we will see the stewards’ reasoning at the end of the race, but for now, it is a penalty he has to serve in a few laps."

At the end of the fourth lap, Johnathan Hoggard entered the pit lane to serve his penalty. While he was still going through the pit lane, Fatih finally overtook him on the start-finish straight.

"The gap has been a steady three seconds to Ayrton for the past two laps. It looks like he is taking the time to manage the tires and get rid of the flat spot before he starts pushing again. But these few laps are going to be excruciating for Fatih, as he now has to control his pace knowing he could go faster, make the overtake, and disappear into the lead."

......

{Any improvements on the vibrations?} James asked the performance engineers inside the garage for their update.

{He is managing it well, and they are already improving. If the improvement continues at this pace, the vibrations should return to normal by lap nine,} came the response from the performance engineers.

{I’m updating him on that, so keep me updated if the situation changes, so I can update him on that too.}

{Yes, will do.}

Upon receiving the response, James immediately radioed Fatih. {With this pace, we target lap nine for normalcy before pushing.}

{I feel lap eight should be enough,} Fatih responded.

{In contact with performance, and that is their suggestion. We’ll keep you updated if there are changes, but if you feel ready, you are free to push.}

{Understood.}

{Gap2.9 .}

......

"Looks like we are going to have a lull in the battle for the lead for the next four or five laps if we listen to both sides. This is an opportunity for Ayrton to increase that gap because Fatih has his race pace literally capped due to performance issues."

Moments after Justin said that, the radio conversation between Ayrton and his race engineer played.

{Fatih will be sustaining this pace for the next five laps. We need to increase our pace and build a gap now to have a shot at the win.}

{What is his problem?}

{Flat spot. During a battle with Jonathan. He needs five laps to clear the vibrations.}

{Will do my best.}

{He is slow in light-braking, high-speed corners as his brake bias is to the rear, so try to increase your pace in those.}

{Will try.}

"And as I said, they are already exploiting Fatih’s limitations. This is shaping up to be a very good final half of the race for the battle for the lead."

"We are now going to focus more on the interesting battles behind these two, as his teammates are now fighting one another for the P3 position now that Jonathan is out of the equation."

"This team is shaping up to be very dominant, seeing how their drivers have been performing this week."