Verstappen to start last against 100 rivals in Silverstone's 'world's biggest kart race'

Max Verstappen will face one of the more unusual challenges of his career on 16 September, when the four-time Formula 1 world champion starts from the back of a 101-kart grid at Silverstone and attempts to pass every single rival before the clock runs out. Red Bull has billed the event, titled Max vs 100, as the world’s biggest kart race.

The field is drawn from across Red Bull’s wider athlete network and beyond, mixing professional sportspeople, celebrities, content creators and fan entrants. Confirmed participants include ultrarunner Arda Saatçi, basketball player Chris Matthews, freestyle mountain biker Matt Jones and streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato. The full entry list has not yet been released.

The purpose-built kart layout at Silverstone was designed by French race director David Terrien, who tested the circuit alongside two-time iRacing World Champion Sebastian Job. Job offered a candid assessment of what Verstappen faces: “I think to overtake 100 cars is going to be extremely difficult. Today we did it with 50, and even that was a challenge to do it in the allotted time. He’s got his work cut out for him big time.”

Terrien was equally enthusiastic about the spectacle in store for the other drivers. “When you have Max Verstappen chasing everyone, I think that’s going to be the experience of a lifetime for all the drivers,” he said. “You’re going to have Max showcasing all these skills of looking through the traffic, trying to prepare and plan where he can overtake people, and going through the traffic at the fastest speed he can because he doesn’t want to let the drivers at the front pull away.”

Verstappen, who began karting at the age of four and made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at 17, said the return to karts feels natural despite the years spent in single-seaters. “In go-karts you learn all the basics: starts, defending, overtaking,” he said. “I’ve done so many years in go-karting that you quite naturally get back into things.”

One notable twist is that Verstappen will be permitted to communicate directly with his rivals via radio during the race — a sharp contrast to F1, where drivers speak only to their own teams or race control. The broadcast will feature game-inspired graphics and cinematic drone footage.