Verstappen does zero prep for 100-karter Silverstone challenge, plans to 'rock up and do my thing'

Max Verstappen is taking a deliberately relaxed approach to one of his more unusual off-season challenges: starting last on a 100-kart grid at Silverstone and attempting to pass every competitor within 30 laps. Speaking to media ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, the four-time Formula 1 world champion confirmed he has done nothing to prepare.

“No, I didn’t do anything,” Verstappen said when asked whether he had researched his rivals. “I’ll just rock up and have a good time, to be honest. Let’s see how it goes. But yeah, it’s a lot of people.”

The field of 100 go-karters includes athletes, streamers, content creators, personalities and fans, making it a broad and unpredictable mix. Verstappen acknowledged the scale of the task while admitting he does not yet know the full format. “Starting from the back, it’s going to be challenging, but I hope I can catch them all. I don’t even know the format at the moment. So I will just rock up and do my thing.”

The event has drawn comment from Verstappen’s F1 rivals. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc offered a note of caution from Italy, pointing to the sheer volume of drivers on track as the main variable. “100 is a lot,” Leclerc said. “The only advice I’ll give is maybe not to crash into Max, because he’s got a season to finish, and for Max to be careful, because I don’t know how professional those drivers are. But 100 drivers is quite a lot on a track, so I think it will be fun.”

Leclerc was nonetheless confident in the Red Bull driver’s ability to handle the competition. “When you’re racing against one of the best drivers in the world, they’ll probably have a tough time.”

Williams driver Carlos Sainz, speaking at the same Madrid press conference, drew on his own recent karting experience to offer a rough prediction. “I did a karting race yesterday with my team. Started 20th because we did reverse grid and I was P1 in five laps. So by my calculations, if there are another 20 times five, in 20 laps Max will be P1 for sure — 15-20 laps, or who knows, depends how much overtaking there is. But he will win it easy.”