Dancing on the blade's edge, riding the wind.
The Monaco qualifying session had reached a fever pitch. Kai, Ricciardo, and Vettel were trading blows, pushing the limits of speed in the narrow, humid concrete canyons to heights rarely seen in the Principality.
The suspense for pole position would last until the final second.
Kai, piloting the number 22 Ferrari, was wringing every ounce of performance from the SF71H. In the VIP suite, the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Frédéric Arnault forgot to breathe, his eyes locked on the scarlet blur on the monitors.
Screams, cheers, and gasps crashed against the circuit like waves, but the red car remained unmoved. Kai threw it into the tightest, most claustrophobic section of the track. Throttle, brake, steering—a trinity of precision.
The Grand Hotel Hairpin. The slowest corner on the F1 calendar.
In the suffocating tension, time seemed to warp. The car appeared to freeze, trapped in a tunnel of time like a fly caught in falling pine resin, preserved instantly as amber. The vibrant red was breathtaking, pulsing with life even in that split second of near-standstill.
Then, the amber shattered. Kai carved a perfect arc, swinging wide, cutting in, and powering out. The sword was unsheathed. He broke free from the bind, letting gravity and torque carry him down the hill.
From ten times slow motion to ten times fast forward. Portier. The Tunnel. The Nouvelle Chicane.
From the darkness of the tunnel to the blinding light of the harbor, the transition from top speed to heavy braking was seamless. He didn't just drive; he flowed. Before the crowd could react, he was already blasting through the Swimming Pool section.
Gasp!
Arnault didn't realize he was holding his breath. He stared as the red streak charged from the north, passing directly below the "Golden Terrace" VIP suite on the west side. The car was so close to the barriers, flirting with destruction, that the floor of the suite vibrated. The roar slammed into his eardrums, pinning him in place.
"Sector 2, Purple! Oh my God!"
Lebach punched the air, jumping up and down. Arnault was swept along by the crowd rushing to the other side of the terrace to watch the car storm down the main straight.
Kai was challenging the absolute limit. The spectators were stunned, scalps tingling, knees shaking. This was the raw, unadulterated drug of Formula 1.
Then, the red Ferrari reappeared in view.
"Perfect line!"
"Dancing on the edge!"
"He couldn't be more precise. Kai has extracted everything from the car and the track. Sector 3 is flawless!"
Over the roar of the engine, which trailed a wake of heat and noise like a fighter jet, the timing screen froze.
1:11.001.
The world went quiet for a heartbeat, shattered immediately by the commentator's scream.
"Record!"
"A new track record!"
"Kai destroys the time Ricciardo just set! He takes the throne!"
"What are we witnessing? Ferrari dipping into the 1:10s? How did he do that? That is extraterrestrial!"
"But that is Kai! That is why he wears the Ferrari red! He has conquered the streets!"
"Now, the pressure shifts to Ricciardo. Kai is on provisional pole, but the Honey Badger is still on a lap!"
It was madness. Arnault and Lebach looked at each other, fists clenched, eyes wild with dopamine. In the Ferrari garage, Arrivabene nearly lost his composure as the mechanics cheered.
"P1, Kai. P1!" Greenwood's voice trembled despite his best efforts to stay professional.
Ferrari had been suppressed by Red Bull all weekend. Vettel had reached the car's limit, but Kai had seemingly performed magic, squeezing energy out of a stone. It was a lap that evoked the spirit of Senna.
"Thanks. Where is Daniel?" Kai asked, his voice flushed with the adrenaline of a perfect lap. He had left nothing on the table.
Greenwood snapped back to reality. "Just through Sector 1. Personal best."
All eyes turned to the number 3 Red Bull.
Ricciardo was on his final flyer. The ultimate suspense of Monaco would be resolved in the next sixty seconds.
Sector 1: No purple sector. Mercedes and Ferrari still held the edge there. But Ricciardo was green—a personal best. He was sharpening his knife.
"Sector 2... Green!"
"He's improved, but he hasn't beaten Kai's sector time! It's all coming down to the final sector!"
The noise died down. The world narrowed to the blue car tracing a dangerous line along the harbor.
The RB14 burst out of the Rascasse complex, the Renault engine screaming. In the final sector, Red Bull's fortress of mechanical grip, Ricciardo unleashed everything. There was a wild look in his eyes behind the visor, a flow state where soul and machine merged. Sparks flew as he bottomed out, throttle pinned.
He tore across the line.
1:10.810.
History witnessed.
0.191 seconds.
A literal blink of an eye. That was the gap keeping Kai from his first career pole position.
Consider the context: two consecutive DNFs, immense pressure from the media and fans, and a track that punishes rookies. To miss pole by less than two-tenths was a thunderous counterattack.
Even the trolls were sweating. He had nearly done it.
"No, no regrets," Kai said in the media pen, flashing a wide, genuine smile. His hair was a mess of sweat, but his eyes were bright with energy.
"We had issues in Free Practice. Red Bull was in a league of their own here—I couldn't even see their taillights. The gap was massive, maybe eight-tenths? So, this result exceeds expectations. To be this close gives us hope."
"For the race, I hope our long-run pace allows us to aim higher."
Aiming higher from P2 meant only one thing: The Win.
The grid was set: Ricciardo (P1), Kai (P2), Vettel (P3), Hamilton (P4), Bottas (P5). Tomorrow, the two Ferraris and two Mercedes would hunt the lone Red Bull, with Verstappen starting from the back.
Before the reporters could follow up, a commotion erupted behind them. Daniel Ricciardo arrived like a Hollywood star, grinning ear to ear, waving theatrically to the crowd.
Kai walked over. "Daniel!"
Fist bump. Shoulder pat.
"Great lap. Seriously, beautiful."
It was sincere. Ricciardo had become the first driver to break into the 1:10s at Monaco. He had proven Red Bull's superiority and his own worth as a number one driver. With the internal war against Verstappen heating up, and after a string of mediocre results following his Shanghai win, this pole was worth its weight in gold.
Ricciardo posed with hands on hips, laughing at the sky. "Hehe, beaten the genius again! That's twice now! What does that make me?"
"Hahaha! I am a Super Genius!"
He then choked on his own saliva and bent over coughing, shattering the aura instantly.
Kai laughed, eyes crinkling. "Thanks for the compliment. I didn't know I carried so much weight. Does beating me count as beating Lewis and Seb too?"
Ricciardo gaped, speechless.
Kai patted his shoulder calmly. "Since this is the second time, I should remind you: No one beats me three times in a row within a fighting distance."
"Watch your mirrors tomorrow."
Kai turned and walked away.
Ricciardo sputtered, pointing at Kai's retreating back. "Hey! Did you see that? The Baby Driver just threatened me! Is that real? He turned into Chucky! Ahhh, I'm telling his mom!"
The press pen erupted in laughter.
Kai returned to the reporters, smiling. "Sorry, where were we?"
A reporter held out a microphone. "We saw you doing exam papers during the breaks in Free Practice. Is that true?"
Kai paused, then laughed. "Yes. Homework review. Next week is my high school graduation exam."
The Gaokao was coming.
The reporters buzzed. "So you're taking the exams?"
"Of course. It was a condition for racing in F1. I promised my parents I'd graduate properly."
Gasps of admiration ripples through the crowd. Verstappen had left school at sixteen. It was unheard of for a driver to be worrying about high school math while fighting for pole at Monaco.
"Are you struggling with it? Maybe the paddock can help," a reporter joked.
"No, I'm not worried," Kai waved his hand. "Actually, the engineering team is avoiding me now. I put a math problem on the whiteboard last time, and it stumped the entire engineering department. They were so traumatized they skipped dinner."
Laughter exploded again.
In a weekend of high tension, the viral story of "Kai's Math Problem" became the unexpected hit. Even seasoned engineers on social media tried to solve it, only to conclude: "Chinese high school math is terrifying."
Sunday Morning.
The golden sun bathed the Mediterranean in light. The air smelled of expensive coffee, sea salt, and high-octane fuel.
It was the day of the jewel in the crown.
At 5:00 AM, Rosanna Stapleton stood by the temporary stands, clutching a ticket she had bought at a premium. Her heart was racing.
She had flown to Monaco on impulse. She felt crazy. But after missing the qualifying drama, she needed to be here. She wanted to be a physical shield for Kai against the world.
Next to her, two Scottish fans with silver "44" painted on their faces were setting up camp chairs. "Lewis will overtake today. Daniel and the Baby won't stop him."
Rosanna hesitated, then spoke up. "I bet the Baby Driver holds off both Lewis and Seb all race."
The fans waved her off dismissively. "Impossible. The media hypes him up, but he's soft. He'll fold like he did in Baku. He's a soft egg."
Rosanna smiled, though she was annoyed. "Let's bet. If the Baby holds his position, that bag of croissants is mine. If he loses it, I buy you a round of beer."
She was actually just hungry.
Nearby, Ferrari fans in red "5" shirts were singing a modified "Sweet Caroline," trading banter with the Mercedes camp. It was lively, but the undercurrent of skepticism about Kai was real. Rosanna clutched her backpack straps. The invisible swords were sharp.
On the other side of the track, at La Rascasse, Maria Plas and her two children found a spot. Her husband, Jan, a dockworker, was cynical.
"Mom, will the red car win?" her son asked, staring at a billboard of Kai.
"Why that one?"
"I like the red. And his eyes."
Jan grunted. "No chance. Can't overtake here. He has no hope."
Maria smiled. "Maybe. Miracles happen here."
Up in the harbor, the 1% were gathering. Lorenzo Moretti stood on the deck of a chartered yacht, looking at the neighboring vessel where Leonardo DiCaprio was boarding a helicopter.
Lorenzo realized that in this world, his family's Brembo empire was just a drop in the ocean. But seeing Kai compete at this level made his blood boil with excitement.
"Racing is a team sport," Kai had said.
Lorenzo looked at the track. Monaco offered zero margin for error. This was the ultimate test.
Above the pits, in the "Golden Terrace," champagne flowed. Tech moguls, Russian oligarchs, and Wall Street titans mingled. Frédéric Arnault stood with Lucien Lebach.
"Daniel was amazing yesterday," someone said nearby.
"I think Seb and Lewis are the ones to watch."
Arnault and Lebach exchanged a knowing look. They knew who they were watching.
The atmosphere built to a crescendo. The cars lined up on the grid.
Red lights on.
Five. Four.
The city held its breath. The seagulls cried out, piercing the silence.
Three. Two.
The roar of engines was a physical weight.
One.
Lights out.
Clutch. Throttle. Launch.
Kai shot off the line like an arrow.
In Shanghai, he had launched too hard and bogged down. Not today.
He knew this was his only real chance. The first lap, cold tires, low grip.
Pole position (Ricciardo) was on the right (racing line). P2 (Kai) was also on the right, but further back.
Turn 1, Sainte Dévote, is a tight right-hander.
Kai didn't hesitate. He slashed toward the middle of the track immediately.
It was aggressive. He was squeezing Ricciardo to the inside while simultaneously blocking the line for Vettel and Hamilton behind him.
One stone, two birds.