Chapter 427: The Monaco Grand Prix IV

{Fatih, is something wrong with the car?}

{No, everything is good.}

{Any reason you are slowing down that much?} James asked the follow-up question when the answer he received allowed him and the team to have a sigh of relief.

{To bunch the field up,} Fatih said as if it were a normal thing to say when leading the race and on harder and more durable compound tires.

........

"....." The AlphaTauri garage was silent for a moment when they received Fatih’s answer.

Although they felt relief, considering that there was nothing wrong with the car, just as the sensors had shown, giving up a very comfortable lead to deliberately slow the field was not something done unless under certain circumstances.

A good example would be Hamilton in the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, when he bunched up the midfield from P3 while driving on highly fragile hypersoft tires. But even that was a rare occasion, meaning for them, this was no different than seeing it for the first time being done when the race leader had no specific disadvantage he needed to be actively addressing, like Daniel Ricciardo had to do in that same race to address his MGU-K problems from the lead.

.......

"Martin, what reason would someone have to slow both himself and everyone behind him down on lap 47 of 78 at the Monaco Grand Prix? He is now driving laps in the one-nineteen range, which is around four to five seconds slower than what he should be capable of driving on those brand-new compounds, and he is now forcing Verstappen, who is behind him within DRS range, to slow down as well, allowing Sainz, Norris, Perez, Gasly, and Hamilton to catch up to them by around five seconds a lap. The Ferrari and the second Red Bull should catch them at the end of this lap if they maintain this pace," David Croft asked, while providing context, the moment the radio conversation between Fatih and James was broadcast.

"It might sound crazy, but I think he is deliberately doing that to prevent anyone with a competitive car from opening a gap for a second pit stop so that they can attempt for the fastest lap," Martin Brundle, who was once an F1 driver, said, trying to come up with a possible hypothesis. A moment later, another radio conversation between Fatih and James came on.

{Is there a reason to take that risk?} James’s voice was heard as a subtitle appeared on the right side of the screen.

{We have the chance for a Grand Slam, so I have to prevent Hamilton and Verstappen from opening a pit window to go for the fastest lap,} Fatih explained, as he allowed those who were yet to catch up to him to gain another five seconds on the following lap.

"HOHOHOHOHOHO! It was just a theory a few seconds ago, but it has now been proven to be the reason! I think this is a brilliant show of thinking and risk-taking from the rookie, Yıldırım. What is your take, Martin? Would you have done the same in his position, and why?" David Croft, sounding excited, immediately asked Martin.

"It is a brilliant strategic decision for Yıldırım there. In our time, overtaking in Monaco was a possibility, so I wouldn’t have done it then, but if I were in these cars and in the lead, it is something I could do if a chance for a Grand Slam was there. But I would hate it if I were the one stuck behind him," Martin said as he chuckled, pointing out how drivers always only like or dislike something if it benefits or disadvantages them, and no one had a rigid way of thinking.

"For a Grand Slam, you need to get pole position, start at the front, lead every lap of the entire race, and take with you the fastest lap. At the moment, Fatih Yıldırım has all the requirements, and the only fragile one is the fastest lap attempt, as someone in clear air and on a soft compound can beat that time at any time of the day.

Based on the situation, this is the perfect strategic decision, as he is actively removing that option from the table for those who have the incentive to take that leap of faith," David Croft explained to the viewers so that they understood what was going on, making sure everyone watching, from casual viewers to hardcore fans, was on the same page.

......

"...." James Vowles was silent for a moment when he was updated by the engineers who were responsible for monitoring the radio conversations of other teams’ drivers and their race engineers for hints of what they were doing. He was updated that Fatih was bunching up the field to kill any attempt at the fastest lap.

His surprise was that it was not something the team had asked him to do, but something he had decided to do on his own because it showed he was not focusing on just finishing the race and getting a race win on his debut, but was also calmly thinking about all the variables in his way of extracting the maximum gains from the weekend and acted on it. Usually, a driver chasing his first win or even a podium would be fully focused on achieving that and that alone.

They had actually requested Hamilton to improve his pace in an attempt to open a gap to Stroll behind him after their undercut attempt failed, to go for the fastest lap as a way to reduce the damage to Verstappen as much as possible. But now it seemed like someone on the track had enough time to drive and think about that to close that window before it had even started opening in the first place, nipping everything in the bud.

{Keep an eye on the situation. We might have a VSC or safety car if they rubber-band themselves too much,} James radioed the home base tactics department to be ready for a possible incident, which was very possible on the tight streets of Monaco when cars are bunched up, as someone might miss their braking point and clip the wall or go off track in the few areas where there is one, allowing those chasing him to gain a position. But at the moment, the plan for a fastest lap attempt was already out of the window.

.........

As the laps passed, the top eight all found themselves in a very long DRS train. The moment that happened on Lap 50, Fatih finally increased his pace, dragging the whole DRS train along with him, driving low one-sixteen laps around the track, making for quite an interesting situation.

His pit lane also started supporting his plan since he had forced the option on them, and they saw no disadvantage from it as well. They started updating him on the condition of the train he was leading, and whenever the train looked to be splitting due to lapping a backmarker, they would update him, and he would slow down to recombine it again, preventing anyone within it from pulling away.

Martin Brundle: "Verstappen has been trying to put pressure on him for ten consecutive laps, but Fatih has been handling it like his veins are filled with ice, as he hasn’t fallen for anything Verstappen is doing while keeping the entire group intact again and again."

David Croft: "This has to be stinging for Ferrari, and even worse for Charles," he said while chuckling at the imagery of all the controversy and fights before this race.

Martin Brundle: "On any other track, this is a foolish endeavor, but here in Monaco, it is the best tactic for someone to attempt, and it looks like he might do this to the final lap of the race, and what an end that would be..."

Lap 60, the order still remained the same.

Lap 74, no changes had happened, and no one had yet to detach from the group, even if they wanted to, as Fatih made sure the top eight remained that way the entire time.

......

Horner just watched the unfolding drama in silence. Max, who had first started with curiosity and, sensing an opportunity, had asked the moment Fatih lost massive time and he managed to catch up, only for that feeling to vanish a few laps later. Then, complaints from Max started as he tried to put pressure on Fatih and his team, and when nothing happened, and Fatih kept a tight leash on the group, acceptance was the only thing that followed.

Helmut, on the other hand, had a barely covered smirk on his face, which at the moment was irritating Jos Verstappen to no end.

A driver he had, as a means of precaution, put a roadblock on to delay his debut, which had worked quite well for some time, only for it to end up resulting in him having to debut in Monaco, and as a result, he was now acting as a moving barrier for his son, who was stuck behind him.

The most irritating thing was that thanks to Fatih’s appearance, he had acted as a roadblock, preventing Max from being able to take the lead in the championship, which would have been a massive confidence boost and would have put pressure on Lewis.

He hadn’t expected he would be a thorn in his side this early.

........

"It is his first time, but he makes it look like he has done it a thousand times, and it won’t be his last time doing that. But it will be his last time for the Monaco Grand Prix as he starts his final lap with a group of race winners and podium finishers tagging behind him.

THERE IS VERSTAPPEN IN P2, WHO CARRIES THE TITLE OF YOUNGEST RACE WINNER AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE AMONG THE ROOKIES OF HIS TIME! THERE IS SAINZ IN THE FERRARI, ONE OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT AND TENACIOUS DRIVERS AND A MULTIPLE PODIUM FINISHER!

THEN LANDO NORRIS IN THE MCLAREN, WHO HAS LAPPED HIS TEAMMATE, DANIEL, IN THIS RACE, ANOTHER PODIUM FINISHER AND ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG STARS! THEN YOU HAVE SERGIO PEREZ IN THE SECOND RED BULL, THE MASTER OF TIRE MANAGEMENT AND A SAKHIR GRAND PRIX WINNER AFTER FALLING TO LAST!

THEN HIS TEAMMATE, PIERRE GASLY, A GRAND PRIX WINNER AND ONE THAT THEY THOUGHT WOULD BE THE TEAM LEADER IN ALPHATAURI! AND THEN AT THE END OF THE LINE, LOOK AT WHO WE HAVE HERE: SIR LEWIS HAMILTON, THE SEVEN-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DRIVER THIS SPORT HAS EVER SEEN, A MAN WITH OVER NINETY WINS TO HIS NAME, AND HE IS RUNNING IN SEVENTH PLACE!

ALL OF THEM HAVE HAD MORE SUCCESS AND EXPERIENCE THAN THIS MAN, BUT NONE OF THEM HAD AN ANSWER TO THE CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE HE HAD DELIVERED THIS WEEKEND!

ACCUSED OF CHEATING AFTER POLE, HE IS LEADING AMIDST A PARADE OF LEGENDS AND FUTURE LEGENDS AND TURNED IT INTO HIS MOTORCADE AS THEY DRIVE THE PARADE TOWARDS HIS FIRST VICTORY! AND AS HE COMES OUT OF SAINTE DÉVOTE, AT EIGHTEEN YEARS, EIGHT DAYS OLD, FATIH YILDIRIM ACCOMPLISHES A FIRST OF FIRSTS: FIRST POLE, FIRST RACE LEAD, FIRST RACE WIN, FASTEST LAP ON THE FIRST RACE, AND THE BIGGEST OF THEM ALL, A GRAND SLAM, ALL ON HIS DEBUT!

LET THE WORLD WITNESS AS A MONSTER HAS JOINED THE GRID, AND A GRAND SLAM IS HIS FIRST MOVE..."