Chaos. Noise. Mayhem.
Before the Red Bull Ring Feature Race had even started, the tension in the air was already palpable, "swords drawn and bows bent." Every driver was sharpening their knives, not just to beat Kai, but to prove themselves, to carve a bloody path through the cutthroat world of motorsport where no one was willing to bow down.
The Red Bull Ring encouraged this kind of aggression. The transitions from attack to defense were lightning-fast, and opportunities were everywhere.
Everyone knew the race would be intense.
But the reality still exceeded expectations. These young drivers had clearly all drawn their knives, but fueled by hot blood and a lack of experience, a single deviation triggered a chain reaction, turning Turn 1 into the epicenter of a disaster.
Collisions. Crowding. Off-track excursions.
Everything you could imagine.
But miraculously, there was no yellow flag.
Because no cars had retired immediately. Despite Turn 1 being a complete mess, the pack somehow found order in the chaos and kept going.
Race Control had been ready to throw the yellow, but hesitated. There was debris near Turn 1, and by rule, it had to be cleared. This usually required a yellow flag or a Virtual Safety Car.
The problem was, the debris was in the run-off area, not on the racing line. And since no cars were stopped on track, the knife-edge battles were still raging. The Turn 1 incident had created opportunities, and the drivers were in a frenzy.
The stewards were urgently debating whether to neutralize the race, but on track, the dogfights were in full swing.
This allowed Kai and Russell's brilliant duel to unfold, a sequence even more exciting than the start in Spain.
The fierce competition continued, pushing the cars to their limits. But the damage from the Turn 1 incident began to show. Three cars, led by Pulcini, eventually succumbed to damage and retired at different points around the track before completing the first lap.
And Boccolacci, starting P4, was having a terrible day. Forced off track by Aitken, his cold tires had zero grip when he rejoined. He was a sitting duck, watching helplessly as rivals swept past him.
He plummeted down the order.
If Pulcini's subsequent crash hadn't caused chaos behind him, limiting the progress of the cars further back, Boccolacci might have fallen even further.
Currently, he was P8.
A delicate position. If he held P8, he would start on pole for the reverse-grid Sprint Race, meaning he could salvage the weekend without pushing too hard today. But if he fell to P9, the entire race would be meaningless, and his Sprint Race chances would be ruined.
Boccolacci stood at a crossroads of fate.
And he blamed it all on Kai.
Ever since Kai entered GP3, Boccolacci's luck had been terrible. It was like he was cursed.
And then
The yellow flag finally came out.
Because Pulcini's car had gone off track in a dangerous spot, the marshals needed a crane to remove it. The full Safety Car was deployed.
The leader had just started Lap 2. The smell of gunpowder was already overwhelming. These young drivers were out for blood. The casual fans, who didn't closely follow the junior series, were stunned:
Is GP3 always this savage?
For Kai, this was bad news.
He had worked hard to pass Russell and take the lead. But he knew Russell wouldn't surrender. The battle wasn't over.
Kai had planned to run his own race, push the pace slightly, and open up a gap just enough to get out of Russell's attack range and rid himself of the "dagger at his back." He wanted to take control and secure another Feature Race win.
Now, that plan was ruined.
They had to circulate behind the Safety Car, meaning he couldn't pull away. Furthermore, after two or three laps behind the SC, the tires would be up to temperature. When the Safety Car came in, Russell, with warmer tires and a slipstream, would launch a furious attack. The pressure would be immense.
This meant Kai had to rethink his strategy.
But this was the Red Bull Ring's character: short, fast, intense, wild. Wide open, all-attack, all-defense. It was the perfect stage for young drivers to show what they were made of.
Borreipaire's voice came over the radio. "Safety Car in this lap. Don't be nervous. You can back the pack up. No overtaking until the control line. No DRS for the first two laps after the restart, so building a gap is critical."
Kai remained calm. "Received."
Borreipaire tilted his head. He detected a hint of excitement in Kai's voice. Was that normal?
Yes. It was perfectly normal.
Borreipaire trusted his judgment, a small smile appearing on his face.
Back in Maranello, they had constantly simulated chaos and unexpected events. Now, it was a live-fire exercise.
Kai was indeed a little excited. The Red Bull Ring demanded full adrenaline, and he was adjusting his state to match it.
Finally, on Lap 5, Race Control announced: SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP.
Kai followed the Safety Car, maintaining a safe distance. After Turn 8, on the back straight, he began to control the pace, checking his mirrors.
Traffic jam. Congestion.
It was like a train, cars nose-to-tail, everyone itching to go. Russell even pulled out of line, running almost alongside Kai.
In the 2017 season, the FIA still permitted this behavior. As long as you didn't actually overtake and maintained the order, testing the limits on the edge of danger was allowed.
Drivers constantly protested that allowing cars to run alongside was unfair to the leader, but the rules hadn't been changed yet. So, the bolder drivers pulled alongside, constantly probing the limits of legality.
It wasn't just Russell. Aitken, currently in P3, wasn't about to be left out either.
The roar of engines surrounded him. Russell and Aitken had drawn their weapons, ready for a head-on confrontation.
Kai was sandwiched between two cars, left and right.
But Kai remained steady. He didn't panic. Instead, within the safety distance allowed by the Safety Car, he used his pace control to suppress the cars behind, deliberately agitating Russell and Aitken's nerves.
According to the rules, overtaking under the Safety Car resulted in a 10-second penalty, a drive-through, or even disqualification.
So, the closer Russell and Aitken got, the more control they gave to Kai. He became a master puppeteer, manipulating them, constantly challenging their nerves, provoking them, testing their braking reflexes in a game of cat and mouse.
The atmosphere grew tighter, hotter, until everyone was holding their breath.
Then, as they exited Turn 9 and entered the third and final DRS zone (though DRS was disabled), Kai saw the Safety Car peel into the pits. The green flag waved. Before they even reached Turn 10, Kai launched.
Without warning, he was gone.
The balance was broken in an instant.
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