Chapter 329: First Laps in an F1 Car
"It is all right; this gives you enough time to fully get to know an F1 car before getting on the track," Apollo said as he patted Fatih’s back, trying to console him.
He had been there for the entirety of Fatih’s life, and he had watched him grow, face difficulties, triumph over obstacles, and many things, but this was the first time he had seen Fatih genuinely look like he was under the weather, and he needed to actively try to console him.
He wasn’t that surprised, as he knew what was on Fatih’s mind had always been to reach the Formula One grid, and that had been delayed at a moment when he had the highest expectation and was already daydreaming what his debut was going to be and all the ways he could use the information about things like weather and other on-track incidents to his advantage, only for all of that to be thrown out of the window.
Fatih just silently continued disassembling the RB15 that he had registered during his on-track experience round this year.
Apollo, who seemed to have been talking to a wall, started pacing back and forth behind Fatih as he thought about what he could do to at least help Fatih come out of feeling down. After about five minutes, his right fist hit his left hand’s open palm as if he had finally found something. He moved close to Fatih and, leaning on his ear, he said, "How about I let you drive it?" as he pointed to the RB15.
"Really?" Fatih flung his head so fast it nearly snapped, as the expression on his face had been completely void of the down look it had moments ago.
"With you reacting that way, it makes me think you weren’t that sad after all," Apollo said, surprised by how quickly Fatih seemed to have forgotten what was making him feel down.
"Haaa," he sighed before he said, "I’m the fool who believed your pranks," as he returned to assembling the rear suspension of the car.
Ever since he registered the 2018 Red Bull RB14 car, he was excited that he would finally be able to drive an F1 car in the simulation, but all of that excitement was shattered when Apollo didn’t allow him to do that and only made him assemble and disassemble that car a few times until he could name every single component.
When he thought he was done and was about to drive the car, he was immediately moved to the next lesson, which was studying how the car operated under the current philosophy. He was made to look for what improvements he would have made, which he failed spectacularly at, despite the aero visualization capabilities of the simulation allowing him to see how the car would react under the new changes and even look at everything closely.
A single change he made on the front wing killed the concept entirely as it disrupted the mid and rear elements of the car, and he had to make changes there as well, only for the final concept to be a failure and have to revert to the original model and go look for those improvements somewhere else. Even when that was happening, he was also made to study the engine and gearbox, how they were operating, and was then asked to make improvements on them as well, just increasing his workload.
Although they said you learn faster by doing things, that was only when you had the basics down, so he had immediately started going through the basics to try and cover his knowledge base.
But the gap between what was in the books and what was on the finished car was wide enough for an entire year to not be enough, only to now be made to register the next-generation car and be made to study it and highlight all the areas they improved, but to also come up with a reason why they decided to go in that direction of improvement and try to see if there was a better one.
"I’m serious," Apollo said, not wanting to drag it out too much.
"Really?" Fatih asked with a brighter expression.
"But under one condition," Apollo said with a serious expression.
"I accept it," Fatih said without even waiting to hear it.
After all, he had spent an entire year being teased by the Formula One machinery in his simulation, only to be told that he couldn’t drive them, and his yearning grew more and more with each passing day. He was already at the limit.
"You don’t want to hear it first before deciding?" Apollo asked, surprised by the enthusiasm.
"Yes, it doesn’t matter."
"Don’t complain later," Apollo said as he snapped his fingers, and the two of them teleported to a new garage in Silverstone, with both of them now wearing racing suits, helmets, and everything else, and already strapped in the cars.
"Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuh," Fatih screamed under the helmet from excitement when he realized that he was now inside the car, feeling fully comfortable, completely forgetting that he didn’t even hear what the condition was.
{We will start by doing the basics first and drive a few rounds without making any changes, and do it in the current default setting. Only after that will we make the changes,} Apollo was heard loud and clear in Fatih’s earphones as if he was really in the paddock.
The car powered on, and he started feeling the monstrous Honda engine behind him, sending the excitement through the roof as he floored the throttle to hear it rumbling and vibrating like a beast, as he tried to feel everything with his eyes closed and in full focus.
Having already gotten used to the steering instruction set from practicing in the Red Bull simulator during his F4 training days, he immediately pulled the clutch, engaged first gear, and dropped the clutch, engaging it as the rear tires lost traction and overrotated. He slid out of the garage, entering the Silverstone pitlane, and uncaring of the pit limits, he immediately started accelerating, coming out of the pitlane already in third gear.
Apollo just followed him silently from behind, planning to let him drive it around for a few laps before he said anything. After all, before any instructions were to be given, it is best to let him feel the entire power of the uncontrollable beast so that he understands what an untamed beast feels like compared to a tamed and controlled one.
But it had already worked wonders on Fatih, as he seemed like a child without object permanence by how fast he seemed to have forgotten about everything that made him sad, based on how excited he sounded in the car.
