{BOX! BOX! BOX!}
One after another, cars were called into the pit lane at the end of the first lap as the rain got heavier with each passing second, making it clear that pitting was the only option.
"It is going to be a chaotic nightmare in there, but they have no choice but to enter. Either you lose ti in the pit lane by having to double or triple stack, or you crash if you decide to brave it out. It’s good news for Fatih, who is now in P6, ahead of his teammates, so he will be the first to be serviced and out of the pit lane as fast as possible.
But for Jewiss, on the other hand, he now has to drive the rest of the lap slowly behind these three and follow them all the way through the pit lane as well, and he might even have to stop behind them if their entry into their pit box is made impossible due to cars stopping ahead. It is the best position for Fatih but the worst for Jewiss.
OH! WHAT?! FATIH IS NOT ENTERING THE PIT?! WAS THERE A MISCOMMUNICATION?! BUT THE OTHER TWO ENTERED THE PIT LANE, WITH JEWISS DOING THE SA! WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
The comntators made their surprise clear as the feed, which was focusing on the soon-to-be-chaotic pit lane, changed to showing the start-finish straight with Fatih being the only one entering it, driving very fast and raising a spray of water behind him with no other car in front or behind him. It made everyone watching question what the person who ca up with the idea of leaving him out was thinking before making that decision.
It was so absurd that most of them wondered if Fatih had made a mistake and overshot the pit lane entry, leaving him no choice but to continue with his lap. That made more sense than the alternative since he was now going to have to drive very slowly and dangerously. The track had many rising and falling elevations, which made the intersections between them create channels for water to gather, making it a nightmare to drive on even with wet tires, let alone on slicks.
However, all of their questions were answered by the radio communications that were replayed.
{The intensity is the sa as expected, albeit a few laps earlier. So, do you want to stick with the plan or not?} Jas asked Fatih on the radio.
{No, we remain on the sa plan,} Fatih answered calmly before skipping the pit lane entry and continuing with his lap.
"Looks like they had discussed it beforehand, but is this a gamble worth taking?" Brad asked after hearing the radio communication, making it clear that this was a plan, not a mistake.
The feed then changed into two different cara feeds shown side by side: one showing Fatih from his onboard cara and the other showing the chaotic pit lane. But Fatih’s onboard was brutal for anyone to watch, as he was constantly making micro-adjustnts to everything, steering, throttle, brake, while driving surprisingly fast, albeit at a slower pace by a few seconds compared to his dry pace.
........
"He really is doing as he said," Jas said as he watched the onboard cara from Fatih’s car while also looking at the teletry. Knowing the likelihood of rain, they had discussed this during the pre-race briefing and planning.
A few hours ago.
"If it rains during the race, our plan is to pit as early as possible and avoid taking any risks."
"But everyone else will do the sa, and the pit lane will be chaotic, and we will lose more ti than necessary," Fatih interjected, not agreeing with the direction the team was planning to go.
"And there is a reason they do that: because the alternative is a guaranteed crash. The rises and falls in elevation create certain points on the track where water pools, so it is nearly impossible to drive on slicks. Either we lose ti in the pits or we crash, and I’m sure you know the best option," the team’s tactician argued back.
"We can also crash in the chaotic pit lane as well, and that is completely out of our control, while on the other hand, remaining on the track will be a decision under our control."
"Having confidence is good, but having direct control or not is useless if the car is uncontrollable in the first place."
"Fifty seconds. That is what we would lose under normal green-flag conditions. In wet conditions, that now moves to more than a minute due to the need to slow down for safety and to not be punished for speeding.
Double-stacking adds twenty more seconds for the second driver. The entire pit lane entering at once increases the chaos, starting from the process of even entering the pit lane, where there will definitely be soone hitting soone.
Then there is having to stop in the fast lane because the team behind our pit box is triple-stacking, and one of them now has to stop in the fast lane, blocking it until they can get into their box. Then there is leaving the pit lane safely, if we don’t have to stop once again because of the pit box in front of us, also triple-stacking, closing the fast lane as well.
I don’t believe that this entire sequence is a better option than staying out for a single lap and reaping all of the benefits when I finish it, and there is no one in the pit lane to cause any of this chaos. It is the better option, no matter how much ti I lose during that lap, since nearly everyone will be facing a worse situation than ," Fatih said, going into one detail after another about why he was not in favor of being made to pit.
"....." Everyone in the room just looked at him as if he was arguing about going into a field of live fire with the confidence that he could avoid it, rather than taking the safer option.
Fatih, who saw this look on their faces, just added, "That is the decision I will be making when I’m on the track," making it very clear that even if they disagreed, he was still going to go through with it.
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