MAX Verstappen was given one of the strangest racing challenges of his career: start at the back of a 101-kart field and overtake every single driver in front of him.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion did exactly that.
READ: Antonelli rides lucky VSC break to deny Norris at Spanish GP
Verstappen won the 'Max vs 100' challenge at Silverstone, turning what was billed as an exhibition against 100 amateur go-kart racers into another demonstration of the racecraft that has defined his career.
Starting last, Verstappen had 30 laps and a 75-minute time limit to hunt down the entire field. He needed only 14 laps and around 35 minutes to eliminate all 100 challengers.
The biggest obstacle was the opening lap. With the entire field packed together ahead of him, Verstappen immediately found himself navigating a chaotic mix of spins, crashes and drivers fighting for position while he tried to pick the safest and quickest route through the traffic.
He emerged from that first lap having already overtaken 64 karts.
“I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried. But after my first lap, with all the carnage, I did think, ‘OK, we have got this under control,’” Verstappen said.
From there, the challenge became a matter of steadily picking off the remaining drivers.
Max-imum attack
By just lap six, Verstappen had moved into the Top 10. He continued closing the gap on the leaders while the amateur racers tried to use every advantage available to them, including a shortcut that could be used during the first half of the race.
The field included athletes, content creators, media personalities and amateur racers, all competing in identical karts.
Verstappen, meanwhile, had the experience of someone who had spent most of his life learning how to find gaps in traffic and make overtaking decisions in fractions of a second.
“I started getting into a rhythm and was able to overtake them one by one and saw the gap closing, that was really exciting,” the Red Bull driver said.
The final group proved to be more difficult to catch, with Dutch F1 journalist Jacky Martens, Red Bull engine builder Lewis Osler and YouTuber Zac Alsop among the last drivers standing.
Verstappen eventually dispatched Alsop and Osler before catching Martens, who had started from pole position, to complete the challenge.
Back to Max's roots
The spectacle also offered Verstappen a chance to return to the type of racing that shaped him long before he became an F1 star.
He took up karting at four years old and spent much of his childhood traveling around Europe with his father, former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, competing in some of the continent's biggest karting events.
That experience was evident at Silverstone, where Verstappen had to deal not with the precision and predictability of an F1 field but with 100 amateur drivers moving around him in identical machinery.
The result was a race that was expected to be a novelty but quickly became a showcase of Verstappen's instincts behind the wheel. He finished with all 100 challengers overtaken, leaving himself more than 20 laps and roughly 40 minutes of the allotted time unused.
For Verstappen, it was also a rare chance to claim a victory outside the F1 paddock in what has been a challenging season so far.
“It’s my first one of the year, so I’ll take this one,” he said with a smile.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
