Max vs 100: Verstappen To Take On One Hundred Drivers In World's Biggest Go-Kart Race
Four-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen, who recently extended his contract with Oracle Red Bull Racing until the end of 2030, will return to his racing roots on September 16.
Four-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen, who recently extended his contract with Oracle Red Bull Racing until the end of 2030, will return to his racing roots on September 16. At the Silverstone circuit in England, he will attempt to chase down 100 drivers. The challenge is set to become the world's biggest go-kart race and will be broadcast live around the world on Disney+ and the ESPN App. Here is all you need to know:
Like many F1 champions, Dutchman and Red Bull Athlete Max Verstappen started out racing go-karts at just four years old in his bid to reach the top of the motorsports world and competed in championships at the age of seven.
After dominating in Belgium and the Netherlands, he reeled off a string of World and European titles culminating in a spectacular 2013 season that soon propelled him into the Formula One ranks.
This time around, Verstappen will not be pitted against other drivers, but against 100 competitors who are a mix of fellow sports stars, streamers, personalities, and everyday fans invited from around the world.
Red Bull athletes, including ultrarunner Arda Saatci, basketball shooting phenomenon Chris "Lethal Shooter" Matthews, and British freestyle mountain biker Matt Jones, will line up on the grid alongside Red Bull streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato as Max aims to chase down every single go-kart ahead of him.
With 101 karts on the grid, it will be the biggest go-kart race the world has ever seen and thrilling live viewing for sports fans globally on Disney+ and live on the ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited subscribers in the U.S. before a delayed ESPN2 broadcast later that day.
Before the titles and the records came the karts, the training ground where the fundamentals of his racing were set. Max, 28, explained: "In go-karts you learn all the basics: starts, defending, overtaking. Of course, I spent a long period of my life go-karting, so it's always nice to return."
In terms of how quickly he can revert back, he added: "It's about understanding the grip of the go-kart. I've done so many years in go-karting that you quite naturally get back into things."
Max has won twice in Formula One around Silverstone and mastered the art of tackling iconic corners like Abbey, Village, Brooklands, Luffield and the flat-out Copse with speed and precision.
This time, though, the circuit has been purpose-built for the occasion by Race Director and French racing driver David Terrien - a renowned kart designer and youth karting world champion. He said: "Creating a track for 101 drivers at the same time has never been done, never been seen. So, it's very exciting."
With Max usually at the front of the field, this challenge will recreate the format that shaped his early career, as the sheer number of competitors makes the outcome anything but certain.
Terrien added: "When you have Max chasing everyone, I think that's going to be the experience of a lifetime for all the drivers. 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."
Terrien and test driver Sebastian Job (a two-time iRacing World Champion and Simracer for Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing) undertook a shakedown day to determine how what was once a two-lap drill becomes an exciting, yet chaotic 101-driver elimination race.
Job, 26, said: "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."
Fortunately for everyone watching live, Verstappen loves a challenge, especially a daunting one like this that plays into his light-hearted personality and fierce will to win. Asked what he was most looking forward to, he revealed: "Just seeing the carnage unfold in front of me."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
Max Verstappen