They Gave Max Verstappen 100 Rivals. He Ran Out Of Rivals First

Starting dead last against a field of 100 was supposed to be the entertainment. Instead, it turned into a demonstration of exactly why Max Verstappen has four world titles - and it took him barely more than half an hour to prove it.

Red Bull's "Max vs 100" - billed as the largest go-kart race ever staged - put Verstappen 101st on a specially built grid at Silverstone, with a field made up of Red Bull athletes, content creators, streamers, journalists, and fans from around the world, most of whom had driven the temporary layout only once before, during Tuesday's practice and a single qualifying lap. The rules were brutally simple: the instant the rear of Verstappen's kart drew level with the front of a rival's, that driver was eliminated. Every pass was final.

Chaos From the First Corner

The opening lap alone reshaped the entire race. With 101 karts funneling into the first corners at once, Verstappen had already passed more than 10 drivers before even reaching the start-finish line, while the field behind him folded in on itself at the hairpin - karts colliding, spinning, facing the wrong way entirely. "I have no idea what's going on - it's carnage," he said over the radio.

Two minutes in, 63 drivers - more than half the field - had been eliminated without completing a single lap. Told the number, Verstappen's response was characteristically dry: "Not a bad first lap then!"

Not everyone found it funny from the other side. Motorsport YouTuber Paky TWC, running sixth on lap seven, asked Verstappen directly over the radio not to overtake him. He was passed shortly after - Verstappen reportedly warning participants beforehand that "it's not a charity event."

Closing In on the Leaders

By lap 10, Verstappen was up to fourth, with the field ahead of him whittled down to just three names: pole-sitter Jacky Martens, a Dutch F1 journalist; YouTuber Zac Alsop; and Red Bull Ford Powertrains technician Lewis Osler. The trio had built a lead of roughly 12 seconds during the early carnage, but Verstappen was cutting into it at around three seconds a lap.

With 54 minutes still on the clock, race director David Terrien handed the leading group an extra fast lap - a shortcut they could use to try to buy themselves more time. All three used it together on lap 12, shifting from racing each other to jointly defending against the inevitable. It bought them exactly one more lap. Verstappen arrived on lap 13, cleared Alsop and Osler in a single corner, then passed Martens to complete the challenge - finishing on lap 14 of a scheduled 30, with roughly 35 to 40 minutes still remaining on the clock.

A Podium Featuring Verstappen's Own Team Technician

Martens held on for second, with Osler joining him and Verstappen on the podium - meaning Verstappen's own power unit technician ended up sharing a podium with him. Martens didn't hide his disbelief afterward: "I can't stop smiling. It feels like living in a dream or something... finishing P2 right behind him, it's unbelievable, really."

He also offered a lighthearted explanation for the strong Dutch showing at the front: "We're both from Limburg, so I don't know what it is in the water over there... as soon as there's four wheels involved, we're just quick with everything." Alsop finished fourth, ahead of off-road motorcyclist Pol Tarrés in fifth, with livestreamer RDJavi, photographer Larry Chen, mountain biker Bernard Kerr, and actor Neo Yau rounding out the top 10.

The Numbers Behind the Dominance

Verstappen's fastest lap came in at 2:20.673 - over 2.6 seconds quicker than Martens' best of 2:23.327. Across the full 35 minutes, Red Bull calculated he passed a rival every 21 seconds on average.

Even the Data Didn't See It Coming

Oracle Red Bull's own simulations, run beforehand to predict how long the challenge would take, estimated Verstappen would need around 40 minutes to clear the field. He did it in roughly 30. Jack Harington, Oracle Red Bull Racing's Partnerships Group Lead and one of the 100 competitors, put it simply: "You can have all the data in the world, the best technology in Oracle to predict it, but sometimes you've got a Max Verstappen who's just going to beat the data." Harington himself was passed far earlier than he'd hoped - on lap four - but called the moment one he'd "probably going to talk about to every single person I meet for the next 20 years."

What Made the Difference, According to the People Who Built the Race

Race director Terrien, who also designed the circuit to accommodate the unusually large field, pointed specifically to Verstappen's awareness in traffic as the standout skill on display. "Going through the traffic of such a big field, no one has done it. There's never been a karting race with so many karts," he said. "When you look at the replay, he picked the right spots. Every time there was a gap, he went for it... I think that's a race vision, that's something he has that most of the drivers don't have."

Red Bull engineer Richard Cooke framed the result as a broader statement about the gap between professionals and enthusiastic amateurs: "Everyone fancies themselves a bit of a driver and thinks that they can maybe compete with these guys. But I think he's shown today that professional racing drivers, they operate on a completely different level!"

Verstappen's Own Verdict

For a four-time world champion with 71 grand prix wins, an exhibition kart race against amateurs might sound like a footnote. Verstappen didn't treat it that way. "It was great to just be back in a go-kart again and go back to basics. It reminded me of racing back in the day," he said, before adding, when asked where the win ranked among his career highlights: "I think this is the best one yet!"