Max Verstappen passes 100 karts in just 14 laps to complete Silverstone challenge
Max Verstappen demonstrated why professional drivers aren’t really human by coming from the back of the grid to defeat 100 other go-kart drivers and win Red Bull’s ‘Max vs 100’ challenge.
The compelling and frankly bizarre event took place at a modified Silverstone Circuit, where Verstappen faced amateur drivers from the world of sport, journalism, entertainment and content creation. Verstappen — starting 101st on the grid — demonstrated his superior class and was able to overtake every other driver in just 14 laps of the 30-lap challenge.
The 100 other drivers had a day’s practice to prepare for the race on Tuesday, before taking to the track early on Wednesday for a single qualifying session ahead of the event.
As they lined up on the grid for the race, the karts stretched back along the opening straight, where the four-time F1 World Champion was able to quickly overtake ten cars before reaching the start line. The opening lap of chaos saw karts running into each other and going the wrong way as drivers negotiated the tricky hairpin.
The race rules stated that the moment the rear of Verstappen’s kart drew level with the front of theirs, they would be out of the race entirely. This meant that every pass was final and after two minutes, 63 drivers had already been eliminated without completing a lap. After the race settled, Verstappen had the challenge of passing leading drivers Dutch Formula 1 journalist Jacky Martens, YouTuber Zac Alsop and Red Bull Ford Powertrains technician Lewis Osler and was able to achieve this after just 35 minutes of driving.
Completing the top ten were Red Bull off-road motorcyclist Pol Tarres, Italian Content Creator Paky TWC, Livestreamer RDJavi, photographer Larry Chen, mountain biker Bernard Kerr and actor Neo Yau. Asked on his victory lap where the win ranks among his others, Verstappen answered: "I think this is the best one yet!"
After 35 minutes of driving, it was calculated that Verstappen passed a driver every 21 seconds on average, while his fastest lap of the race was 2:20.673. The event at Silverstone was broadcast live on Disney + and ESPN and hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan.
Max Verstappen said: “When I went to the grid and I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried. After my first lap with all the carnage, I did think, “Okay we have got this under control”! It started to become really fun and once I started getting into a rhythm and was able to overtake them one by one and saw the gap closing, that was really exciting.
“It was great to just be in a go-kart again and go back to basics, it reminded me of racing back in the day. It's a really beautiful track and well designed and it was a nice touch to be able to get all the data fed through the radio too. I had a great day and it was good to come out with the win!”
Highlights of the event can be found on the ESPN YouTube Channel.
words: Mike Booth
pictures: Red Bull Content Pool