Max Verstappen completed the Max vs 100 go-karting challenge in just 14 laps and 35 minutes Wednesday at Silverstone, well inside his 30-lap, 75-minute allotment, and was already joking about raising the stakes.
He had been given 30 laps to pass 100 rivals from the back of a 101-kart grid on a custom-built 2.45-kilometer track made up of 1.3 kilometers of permanent Silverstone infield karting track and 1.15 kilometers of temporary circuit built specifically for the event. The race was broadcast live globally on ESPN and Disney Plus.
After finishing, Verstappen told reporters that maybe 200 drivers are next, and that they will see again. He said before the race he was hoping his background would make him faster than most. The ease with which he got through the field likely exceeded even that expectation.
The race
Verstappen passed 63 of the 100 competitors on his opening lap alone. He said walking to the grid and seeing how far back he was made him nervous, but that after the first lap he felt they were going to be all right. He said the first two laps were the critical window and that once he cleared those, the rest of the challenge became a matter of chasing down the remaining drivers one by one.
He described the first lap as chaos and said his instinct was to survive it, identify the gaps, and trust that the other drivers would not do anything erratic. He said they did not.
The final three drivers proved the most time-consuming to catch. Journalist Jacky Martens, YouTuber Zac Alsop and Red Bull’s own Lewis Osler were the last competitors he passed before completing the challenge.
The Verstappen take
The four-time Formula 1 world champion said Red Bull consistently comes up with things that suit him and that he appreciates the effort that goes into organizing an event of this scale. He said it lets him be himself.
Verstappen said his last race in a proper go-kart was in 2016, a decade before Wednesday’s event. He had spoken before the race about not missing karting, citing the physical toll it takes on the body, including rib soreness and arm pump. But his performance in the race, finishing with laps to spare and a degree of ease that surprised him, showed the instincts that karting built have not diminished.
What it was
Max vs 100 is the kind of event that fits the current media moment in Formula 1, where the sport’s crossover appeal has grown substantially and its drivers have become personalities that draw audiences well beyond traditional motorsport fans. Verstappen using a Disney Plus broadcast to race 100 amateurs in karts is, at its core, entertainment. What he produced in the race was a reminder that behind the spectacle, the driving ability is genuine.
He passed 63 people in a single lap. He was done in 35 minutes. If 200 is next, the over-under on laps needed is probably lower than it sounds.
