Max Verstappen Takes on 100 Rivals in Karting Challenge
Max Verstappen has spent the past few years making Formula 1 look like a private playground. Now he’s trying to do the same with karting – against 100 rivals at once.
At Silverstone, the four-time world champion is taking on a made-for-TV gauntlet: 30 laps to hunt down every single kart in front of him in a chaotic traffic jam of amateurs, athletes and online stars. One Red Bull driver, one identical kart, a hundred obstacles.
The event, “Max vs 100,” is being shown live globally on ESPN on Disney+, with an hour-long build-up before lights out at 6 p.m. In the U.S., the race also runs on the ESPN App for Unlimited subscribers, with a delayed showing on ESPN2 later in the day.
This isn’t a field of junior hopefuls or seasoned professionals. It’s a mash-up of personalities from across sport and the internet, all united by one simple mission: keep Verstappen behind for as long as humanly possible.
The grid features streamers Pieface, Caedrel and TheDonato, ultrarunner Arda Saatçi, famed basketball shooting specialist Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, and 2019 Love Island winner Amber Gill. Some have endurance, some have hand-eye coordination, some have huge online followings. None have Verstappen’s karting pedigree.
They will, though, have one crucial equaliser. Every kart is identical, and the regulations go further to strip away excuses. Total weight – driver plus kit – must hit 85kg. Anyone under that threshold gets ballast added to their kart. No lightweight rockets, no hidden advantages. Just raw pace, racecraft and nerve.
Verstappen knows what he’s walking into: a rolling roadblock of 100 drivers jostling for position while he threads his way through. “A hundred is a lot, you know,” he told ESPN, admitting the scale of the challenge. He’s seen the layout, he likes the concept, but he’s under no illusions about the chaos that awaits. “It’s still going to be hectic, for sure.”
So how does a world champion approach a race that looks more like a traffic simulation than a grand prix? Verstappen isn’t pretending there’s a magic formula. He wants to read the room – or in this case, the grid.
Asked about tactics, he kept it simple: first understand the level of the drivers, then attack. No overcomplicating, no elaborate strategy trees. He prefers to “go with the flow and try to make the best of it,” trusting his instincts and his karting roots to do the heavy lifting once the visor drops.
Those roots run deep. Before the records, the titles and the Red Bull dominance, Verstappen was forged in karting paddocks, racing wheel-to-wheel in machinery not far removed from what he’ll drive at Silverstone. The difference this time is the sheer volume of traffic and the spectacle wrapped around it.
He still expects his background to tell. “I’m hoping that with my background, I should be faster than most,” he said, only half-joking before adding the sting in the tail: “I hope! I mean, it would be quite embarrassing if they’re faster than me!”
That’s the jeopardy baked into this stunt. For the challengers, just holding him off for a few corners will feel like a win. For Verstappen, anything less than slicing through the pack becomes a talking point.
Max vs 100 takes place on Sept. 16, live globally on ESPN on Disney+. One champion, one kart, one packed circuit – and a hundred people trying to turn his dominance into a demolition derby.
