Chapter 5 is widely regarded as one of the game’s most intense missions. While the remake has toned down the difficulty compared to the original, it still demands focus, careful driving, and a solid understanding of the mechanics on higher difficulty levels.

After your meeting with Don Salieri, head to Ralphie’s garage. He’ll give you the briefing and let you choose a vehicle for the trip. From there, drive to the race location marked on your map. When you arrive, pick up the guard who will explain the plan in detail, then get behind the wheel of the European racing car.

The car is fast but extremely fragile, and you’re working against the clock. On open roads, push the speed to the limit, but when driving through the city, stick to the tram tracks—this significantly reduces the risk of accidents. Police won’t interfere and can’t catch you anyway, so ignore them completely. Unlike the original game, minor collisions are tolerable and won’t cause instant mission failure, but you still can’t afford to total the vehicle.

Once you reach Luca Bertone’s place, wait for him to modify the car, then prepare for the return journey. This is where the driving gets noticeably harder. The car starts swaying, struggles to maintain a straight line, and overheats quickly under aggressive driving. Keep a close eye on the engine temperature gauge—when it maxes out, the car becomes nearly impossible to control. To prevent this, ease off the accelerator periodically and tap the brake briefly, finding the sweet spot between speed and stability. The time limit remains tight, but crashes are still acceptable as long as they don’t completely destroy the car.

After delivering the vehicle, a cutscene reveals that Morello has made his move: his men took out Salieri’s main driver, who’s now in the hospital. The Don decides to put Tommy behind the wheel. The stakes are clear—only first place counts, anything else is failure.

The race begins from last position, and you have just three laps to claim victory. Some opponents will crash out during the race, which helps slightly, but the pressure is still on you. The critical factor is smooth cornering. It’s better to brake early and hold your line than to charge in at full speed and risk spinning out. Mistakes like these cost precious seconds and almost guarantee you won’t catch the pack.

Mastering the track and car behavior is essential. It’s worth running a few practice laps without trying to win, just to get comfortable with the physics and memorize the tricky sections. After that, don’t hesitate to restart from the checkpoint if you make a serious error. The F key provides additional control in corners—you can tap it once or multiple times to adjust your trajectory. Your speed drops slightly, but the handling becomes more stable and collision risk decreases significantly.

After winning the race, the mission moves into its final phase. During the celebration, Paulie will wander off, and you’ll need to find him. Walk forward, then turn left toward the stage where the musicians are performing. Talk to the man standing nearby—he’ll tell you where Paulie went. All that’s left is to drive him home and wrap up the chapter.