Chapter 411: Race Weekend | Saturday | Qualifying in Monaco II

"It is most likely going to be one of the most exciting qualifying sessions in recent times, and if you wonder why, it is because I believe there are around six drivers who all have the chance to be on the front row, and there could be a few surprises too," Martin Brundle said as the countdown timer continued.

"You know how I like a good one ahead of qualifying. Today is Piero Ferrari’s 75th birthday, the vice-chairman of the Ferrari automotive company, and what a birthday present that would be to see a Ferrari back on pole," Croft went along with his usual fun facts.

"Well, it might well happen, as their two drivers have been fast through the sessions. The Monegasque, Leclerc, even missed an entire FP1 session due to gearbox problems, but that didn’t seem to slow him down at all in the later sessions, as he has been very competitive. Verstappen has got a chance to pull some points away from Mercedes this weekend because they look to be struggling to be at the ultimate pace, but let’s see what the Mercs have got when it matters."

"Absolutely. Max Verstappen, is he finally going to get his first pole here in Monaco? We will know soon, but sadly, it is only nineteen drivers, as Haas has pulled Mick Schumacher out of the session, citing the need for time to properly repair the car. As a result, he is going to miss out on his first qualifying experience here in Monaco."

"Yeah, his dad had a fake crash here fifteen years ago. Sadly, Mick’s wasn’t a fake crash; it was a real one, and they will need some time to get the car together and be confident in it working as intended. But he will be participating in the race tomorrow, as he is already within the 107% lap time pace based on the lap times he had set in the previous sessions this weekend."

"HAHAHAHA, the two Schumachers have now both crashed in Monaco, but now it is time for the session to start as drivers are now entering the track, trying to open a gap from one another, as it is a veritable stampede waiting to get to the track because even for a car from a lower level, they can squeeze more positions if you pull out everything the car has and drive to the limit."

......

{We have a gap ahead, so we can go for it this lap,} James said on the radio as Fatih was on the third sector, going ahead with his tire warm-up.

He didn’t respond; he just pressed the pit confirm button to make it known that he had received the information.

Approaching the final corner, he immediately got on the power as he entered the start-finish straight, taking the shortest path through it as he started his push lap.

........

"Lewis Hamilton races toward the Nouvelle Chicane where they are monitoring track limits today as Ocon goes third fastest. Behind him is Pierre Gasly as he goes fastest in the middle sector, looking for his proper lap time, and as he crosses the start-finish line, he moves to second place.

His new teammate, experiencing his first F1 weekend and his first Monaco session, sets a purple middle sector, beating the time his teammate had set a few seconds ago. As he now goes through the final sector, he has done a very good job in the free practice session, never putting a foot wrong.

Will that change now? NO! AS HE MOVES TO THE TOP OF THE RANKING WITH A 1:12.676! The laps keep improving as the track is continuously evolving, the lap times are coming, the grip is coming, as the rookie is now dropped to second place as Lando Norris beats his lap time by a tenth," Croft commentated as the drivers shown on the screen kept changing, showing different drivers in different sections of the track in the middle of their push laps.

"There are still twelve minutes in the session, and the track is going to keep evolving again and again, so things are not yet fully set in stone, as Carlos Sainz now dethrones Lando Norris, going to the top of the board," Martin Brundle added, following Croft’s statement.

"It is also why drivers try to go as late as humanly possible, as the track keeps improving and providing continuous improvement. The later you go, the more advantageous it will be for the driver, but they will also be taking the risk of not finishing the lap if something happens on the track to hinder them, like a flag forcing them to slow down or stop."

....

{12.320 is our time, so let’s go for Strat Mode 2 and bring the car back to the garage,} James said on the radio when Fatih finished his second push lap and improved by three-tenths from his first lap.

{What position are we at the moment?} he asked as he moved aside, letting Hamilton pass him.

{P9, but it is irrelevant as the track keeps evolving,} James said, giving Fatih the information but along with it a reminder that there were still eight minutes on the clock.

Although the lap time had beaten their predicted cutoff time, the level of improvement they were seeing on the track was not convincing enough to let them relax, so Fatih was planned to come in for refueling before being sent out again, this time with brand-new softs, shedding the used compound he had set his previous times with.

........

Brunhilde tapped her husband’s hand before pointing to her daughter with her chin before both of them ended up chuckling at how nervous she was looking.

She had both of her hands clasped together as if in prayer, her elbows resting on her knees as she leaned forward on the living room sofa.

Although time kept trickling down, with Fatih now having dropped all the way down to P14, he had yet to leave the pit lane since returning. Time kept trickling down, with now only three minutes remaining on the timing board.

As she listened to the commentators from Sky Sports, it was not helping to calm her down at all as Bottas went ahead and to the top of the tower by setting a 1:10.938, which was more than a second and a half faster than what Fatih had set on his second push lap on the scrubbed softs.

"As Sergio Perez crosses the line, he stays eighth fastest, and George Russell, who is now in the bottom five, is following closely behind. The man who has been through to Q2 in every session this year, can he improve?

Yes, he does, but barely, as he moves to P12, dropping the rookies towards the elimination zone in P15. Charles Leclerc, the hometown boy in his third Monaco, on his way to complete yet another lap and currently second fastest behind Bottas, who also lives in Monaco.

We are watching him go through the tunnel towards the Nouvelle Chicane, but he gets disrupted as he catches Lewis in a bad place and can’t pass him and has to abort the lap. At last, with six minutes to go, Fatih rejoins the track."

.....

{Okay, let’s go,} James reminded Fatih, who had finally entered the track, starting his first of two warm-up laps.

The team sent him out with seven minutes to go to make sure he had an improved lap time on the board as fast as possible before something happened that might put the session to a stop or an early end. Keeping up, Fatih went ahead with his warm-up lap, and a few minutes later, he crossed the start-finish line, starting his push lap. Having already dropped below the elimination line, he was made the main focus on the broadcast as the feed started following him, since this lap might decide if he was going to be eliminated or go through to Q2.

.......

"As unbelievable as it sounds, the rookie set the fastest Sector 1 in this session! As he now enters the slowest sequence on the track, heading into the Grand Hotel hairpin where drivers do a full one-eighty on the steering wheel, crossing their arms just to make the corner, and he does it! Good on the mini-sectors, it already shows him ahead of the target as he comes out of Turn Mirabeau Bas, heading towards Portier!

HE IS FORCED TO BRAKE HARD AS NIKITA MAZEPIN FAILS TO REACT ON TIME INTO PORTIER AND CLOSES THE ENTRANCE INTO TURN 8, AND FATIH’S FRONT TIRES SEEM TO HAVE FLAT-SPOTTED! BUT THANKFULLY, HE AVOIDED HITTING MAZEPIN, BUT NOW BOTH HIS LAP TIME AND TIRES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!" Croft, who had been commentating with usual interest, ended up shouting at the top of his lungs as he described the unbelievable event happening in front of them.

Just as the incident was still being resolved, as Fatih was reversing in order to have enough room to turn into Portier and go through the tunnel, the radio conversation he had with the pit wall was replayed on the public feed.

{Tires have flat-spotted,} Fatih said as the first thing following the abrupt stop, not at all addressing Nikita or venting his anger.

{Return to the pit. We will be doing a live pit stop for the new tires. Return as fast as possible, as we are low on time, and it will be a tight operation,} James, as well, moved along without addressing the giant Mazepin-sized elephant.

"That is some weird react..." just as Brundle was about to explain how the reaction was not normal at all and drivers would usually not be this calm and not address the cause of the problem, Fatih’s radio conversation continued.

{Please make sure he is always at a minimum of two sectors in front of me whenever I am about to start a push lap in the future, if possible.}

"He doesn’t want to see him at all! Now that is a reaction I expected, though it is still tame. But now he has to rush back into the pit and take the last of his available brand-new soft compounds to have a chance to get to Q2, but as a result, this has realistically reduced his chances massively, as he needed this lap to improve his standing, as he is now still in the eliminated five," Brundle finally added after hearing what Fatih had to say.

Fatih rushed as much as he could to the pit. Thankfully, the vibrations were very minimal, but the tires were as useless as they could be in the session. As he entered the pit lane, all of the mechanics rushed to their pit stop positions, where a few seconds later, Fatih came to a stop. His car was raised, they removed the flat-spotted tires and put in brand-new ones before he was sent out with a 2-second pit stop.

{We will cut it close, but we can make it before the checkered flag, so don’t push too much,} James said on the radio. Now, for Fatih, it was a battle of nerves and a race against time, as everyone knew. So long as he crossed the start-finish line to start his lap by even one second before the checkered flag was waved, he could continue with his lap, and it would be the best possible situation for him, since he would be benefiting fully from the now most-rubbered-in condition the track would ever be in. But he still needed nerves of steel to handle the pressure of doing it at that time.

A moment that might define how people view him had arrived, and he needed to deliver.