Formula 1: The GOAT - Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Theory II
“Aerodynamics,” Denis said as he wrote the word on the board before drawing squiggly lines that were obvious to anyone that they indicated air. He then turned back, pointed to Fatih with the marker, and asked, “Can you tell me what aerodynamics is?”

Fatih, as if already prepared, immediately answered, “Aerodynamics is the study of how air and other gases interact with moving objects. It focuses on the forces created when air flows over and around solid bodies, such as airplanes, cars, and any other objects.”

Denis raised an eyebrow when he heard Fatih answer as if he had been trained beforehand. The answer was too detailed for someone who was just trying to answer based on what they had heard and their intuition alone.

‘Oooh, look at what we have here,’ Denis said to himself before smiling and asking, “And what are the primary forces?” wanting to see if he actually knew about aerodynamics in detail or if he had just gotten lucky.

“Thrust, drag, lift, and weight or gravity.”

“Good, it saves us time that you know the basics, so we can get to the point as fast as possible,” Denis said before turning to the board once again and resuming the lesson. “Instead of studying the entire field of aerodynamics, we are going to focus only on aerodynamics in the racing of Formula cars. In motorsports, aerodynamics is not used to fly but to achieve the opposite effect, and we will be focusing on three things: downforce, drag reduction, and slipstreaming. Unlike karting, in formula races, the faster you go, the more grip you have. During the practice period, you will get to experience it yourself as you are taught to trust that the car will stick to the track even when the cornering speed appears to be nearly impossible to achieve, as it would have been in karting…”

Fatih silently listened with full attentiveness to Denis, despite already knowing most of these things from his knowledge of formula racing in his previous life. Learning it directly from someone involved in the field meant he was receiving it along with the experience the man had gained through his years in motorsports.

Denis went into very detailed aspects of aerodynamics in motorsports, spending an entire three hours explaining, going all the way to writing formulas on the board, ensuring that if Fatih managed to absorb even half of the things he was teaching, he was going to be a different breed, so long as he could apply them on the track. Fortunately for him, the kid he was teaching had a sponge for a brain, absorbing everything he was teaching while also having learned much more deeply about it than even the depth Denis went into.

He sometimes paused amidst his explanation and asked a complex question to see if he was being listened to and if what he was teaching was understood. Every time he did that, Fatih answered in a way that was more than he expected and was always correct, which slowly gave him additional confidence in his choice of complexity. He had decided to make it even more complex, as what chef would choose to make mediocre food when he realized he had world-class materials?

“Let’s have a thirty-minute break before we move on,” Denis said as he reached for a bottle of water to lubricate his throat after talking for three hours straight, two more hours than he had initially planned to take before a break. But Fatih’s engrossed face and active participation made him go over the two hours, only giving him a break after finishing an entire topic.

After drinking, he walked out of the room, not planning on staying for the duration of the break.

“Man, he is intense,” Alex said. He had nearly fallen asleep when he tried to follow the class, only to be met with complicated terms.

“It shows he has a passion for the subject, which is a good choice for someone to learn from,” Fatih said as he closed his notebook, having not written a single thing in it.

“Did you understand anything?”

“Yes, though I knew most of it beforehand. The only new thing I learned was the more intricate parts of aerodynamics in Formula racing.”

“Man, I really need to see what is in your brain. I thought many drivers were not good in the school part since they have intuition, which is more important than brains,” Alex said as he picked up Fatih’s notebook to open it and see what was inside, only to be met with an empty notebook.

While he was still surprised, Fatih responded, “That is true, but if you have intuition and also have the knowledge to fully break down what that intuition is telling you, it should allow me to push the car to its edge with complete confidence that it is going to survive.”

“Are you trying to kill me, man?” Alex suddenly asked, going off-topic.

“What?” Fatih asked as he raised his head, looking at Alex.

“What do you think he is going to do when he sees that his entire three hours of hard work didn’t yield a single note?” Alex said as he tapped at the empty notebook with anxiety in his hand.

“I have everything in my head, word for word. So is there really a need to write on top of it?” Fatih said as a matter of fact.

“What? Word for word?” Alex found himself caught speechless by Fatih’s statement.

“Yes, everything. Plus, it is not school, where taking notes is semi-mandatory, so I think it is better for me to fully focus my brainpower on learning instead of splitting it between listening and writing.”

“So how about we test that?” Denis’s voice was heard, causing the two of them to turn to the door, finding Denis standing in front of where his notes were.

Both Fatih and Alex had the same thought: ‘I could swear not even five minutes have passed in our half-hour break.’

“I was here to take something and heard something interesting,” Denis said, placing the book he had picked back on the table as he followed up with, “It would be good if what you are saying is true, but if you are just bragging and wasting our time, it is going to be problematic.”

“Will I not have to take notes if I pass?” Fatih asked, knowing that, based on the reaction, this situation might escalate further.

“Sure, why not? But if you fail enough of the questions, you will be required to take notes of everything I say, and I will be making sure you do, or I will not green-light you to move to the next part of this camp. Do we have an understanding?” Denis said, sounding slightly dissatisfied and not in the least believing what Fatih had previously said about having everything in his mind.

Fatih, despite seeing that, didn’t bother trying to explain, as he knew it would be impossible to do so without proving it, and the earlier he proved it, the easier it was going to be for him.

“I will be back,” Denis said as he left, obviously to go and bring the question papers.

“Shit,” Alex said the moment Denis left.

“Well, we just have to deal with it as it comes,” Fatih said, not looking even slightly worried at all. He knew it was not a school but an institution, so as long as he proved it, he wouldn’t have that same problem anymore.

By the time Denis came back with the question papers, Alex had already slightly calmed down as he watched Fatih start taking the test.

“Well, these questions are not all from what we learned,” Fatih said to Apollo when he laid his eyes on the questions, as there were even some that needed him to do actual calculations, of which there had only been a few.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Apollo, instead of answering, could be heard laughing his head off, to the point where Fatih had to pause writing as the laughter was getting distracting.

“That is what you get for showing off,” Apollo said, finally being able to speak after his long and lengthy laughter.

“Why should I even bother hiding things in the first place? Isn’t doing that a disservice to my abilities? I mean, if you have an advantage, not using it is foolish and disrespectful to those who don’t have it, as you are implying that you are better and can beat them under the same circumstances, circumstances that they didn’t like being in in the first place,” Fatih said, giving his reasoning for not trying to hide his abilities.

What he told Apollo was not the entire reasoning, but it got the point across. His main reason was that there was really no advantage in him hiding his abilities, since he was not in a world where showing them would bring detriment to him, but quite the opposite, as it would result in him having more resources allocated to him, which worked in his favor, as he needed to do everything to get the best out of himself.

“Sure, but you have to answer the questions correctly first before talking about that, or you will be seen as a failure of a show-off,” Apollo said before once again resuming his laughter.