Max Verstappen won Red Bull’s Max vs 100 go-kart race at Silverstone on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, passing all 100 of his rivals in just 14 laps and around 35 minutes of racing. The four-time Formula 1 world champion started 101st and last on the grid, cleared 64 karts on the opening lap alone and had 30 laps in hand to complete the job, so he needed less than half the distance. Dutch F1 journalist Jacky Martens, who had qualified on pole, was the last driver standing and finished second, with Red Bull Powertrains technician Lewis Osler third. Verstappen, who has not won a Grand Prix in 2026, joked afterwards that “this is my first win of the year, so I take this one”.
Key Takeaways
- Max Verstappen completed the Max vs 100 challenge on lap 14 of a possible 30, overtaking 100 amateur karters in roughly 35 minutes at Silverstone.
- He passed 64 karts on the first lap to climb from 101st to 37th, was inside the top 10 by lap 6 and caught the leading trio just after the halfway point of his race.
- Jacky Martens, a Dutch F1 journalist, took pole in qualifying and was the final driver Verstappen passed, finishing second ahead of Red Bull Powertrains technician Lewis Osler.
- Verstappen’s best lap of 2:20.673 was more than 2.6 seconds quicker than anything Martens managed, and he averaged one overtake every 21 seconds.
- Billed as the biggest kart race ever staged, the event was streamed live on Disney+ and the ESPN App, and Verstappen called it “the best one yet” among his wins.
Max vs 100 was a one-off event created by Red Bull and staged on a temporary kart circuit laid out at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix. Track designer and race director David Terrien built the layout specifically to cope with 101 karts on the same piece of tarmac, something he said had never been attempted in a karting race before. The race started at 6pm UK time after a pre-show hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan, and every kart carried an onboard camera and microphone so viewers could follow the chaos from inside the pack. Verstappen, who grew up racing karts before his Formula 1 debut at 17, admitted beforehand that “a hundred is a lot” and that “it would be quite embarrassing if they’re faster than me”.
How did Max vs 100 work?
The rules were simple on paper. Verstappen started last behind 100 challengers and had 30 laps, or a maximum of about 75 minutes, to overtake every one of them. Any driver he passed was eliminated on the spot, so the field shrank as he came through it. All 101 karts were identical, and every driver plus kit had to weigh in at 85kg, with sealed ballast bolted on for anyone lighter, so nobody had a power-to-weight advantage. The 100 challengers came from television, social media and sport rather than professional racing, and included YouTuber Zac Alsop, streamers Pieface, Caedrel and TheDonato, 2019 Love Island winner Amber Gill, basketball trainer Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, ultrarunner Arda Saatci, mountain biker Bernard Kerr and actor Neo Yau, alongside fans selected from around the world.
Two twists were designed to keep it interesting. The grid was set by a single flying lap in qualifying, run in five groups of 20 during the afternoon, which is how Martens ended up on pole. And every challenger received one “fast lap”, nicknamed the Chucky lap, that let them take a shortcut on the circuit at any point during the first 15 laps. Verstappen also had a fast lap, but he was only allowed to use it from lap 16 onwards. As it turned out, he never needed it. He was also given a radio link to the other drivers, which he used to tell the leaders “I’m coming for you” and that “they need to focus because I’m definitely catching them”.
How did Max Verstappen pass 100 karts?
The first lap decided everything. As 101 karts funnelled into the opening corners, karts spun, stalled and stacked up on the inside of the track under waved yellow flags, and Verstappen picked his way around the outside of the mess. “There was a lot happening and a few karts got stuck,” he said. “I managed to be on the outside, so I didn’t get stuck.” His radio message in the middle of it was blunter: “I have no idea what’s going on. It’s carnage.” By the time he crossed the line to complete lap 1, less than two minutes after the start, he had passed 64 karts and was running 37th. “Not a bad first lap then!” he told his engineer.
From there it became a time trial through traffic. Verstappen was lapping more than three seconds a lap faster than most of the field, and he broke into the top 10 on lap 6, by which point the front-runners had already burned their shortcut laps trying to build a cushion. By lap 7 he was inside the top seven and around 14 seconds behind the leading three, and he was on the tail of the lead group by lap 11. Terrien, watching from race control, said “every time there was a gap, he went for it” and that Verstappen “was on the right side of the track when there was a crash going on the other side”. Verstappen later explained that he was shifting his body weight and hopping the kart at low speed to gain traction out of the slow corners, tricks carried over from his junior karting days.
The finish came on lap 14. Verstappen caught Osler and Martens together, went past two karts in a single corner and then swept by Martens to complete the set. “Oh that was simply lovely, wasn’t it!” he said over the radio as he took the flag. The whole thing had taken about 35 minutes, an average of one overtake every 21 seconds, with 16 of his 30 laps unused.
What were the key incidents?
Beyond the first-lap pile-up, Verstappen’s own race was not entirely clean. On lap 6 he misjudged a corner, launched over a kerb and lost both a ballast weight from the kart and the GoPro camera that had been mounted on it. Neither cost him meaningful time. The rest of the drama belonged to the challengers, who were racing each other for the minor placings as much as trying to hold off Verstappen, and the elimination rule meant the pack got thinner and cleaner with every lap he completed. ESPN’s Nate Saunders, on commentary, summed up the opening lap by saying “the way he was able to zigzag through the crowd was crazy”.
What was the Max vs 100 result?
Because drivers were eliminated as Verstappen passed them, the classification reflects the order in which he caught the leading group. The top five are shown below.
| Pos | Driver | Background | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Four-time F1 world champion | Won on lap 14 of 30, started 101st |
| 2 | Jacky Martens | Dutch F1 journalist | Pole position, last driver passed |
| 3 | Lewis Osler | Red Bull Ford Powertrains technician | Ran in the top three throughout |
| 4 | Zac Alsop | YouTuber | Best of the content creators |
| 5 | Pol Tarrés | Off-road motorcyclist | Top Red Bull athlete |
Verstappen’s fastest lap was a 2:20.673, against a best of 2:23.327 from Martens, a gap of more than 2.6 seconds on a circuit where the amateurs had the same karts and the same track time. In a field of 100, that margin meant nobody was ever going to hold him off for 30 laps.
What did Verstappen say afterwards?
Verstappen admitted the grid had unsettled him. “When I went to the grid and I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried,” he said. “But after lap one, with all the carnage, I did think, okay, we have got this under control.” Asked where the win ranked, he answered: “I think this was my best one yet!” He also reflected on the simplicity of the format. “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. In go-karts you learn basics: starts, defending, overtaking. I’ve done so many years that you naturally get back into things.”
The line about a first win of the year had an edge to it. Verstappen has six podiums from 14 Grands Prix in 2026, including third at Monza and second at the Madring in the last two rounds, but Red Bull have not yet given him a car to beat Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, and he sits sixth in the drivers’ standings on 145 points. Silverstone gave him a trophy, of sorts, and a reminder of why the karting paddock still rates him as the best pure racer in the sport.
What does Max vs 100 mean for Verstappen’s season?
Nothing in the championship, and plenty for his mood. The event fell in the gap between the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and Verstappen used it to do what he does in every spare weekend: race something. It was also a showcase for Red Bull and for ESPN’s growing Formula 1 relationship with Disney+, which streamed the race live worldwide with drone coverage, live timing and onboard audio from all 101 karts. Organisers billed it as the largest kart race ever staged, and the ease with which Verstappen dispatched it will do nothing to discourage a sequel.
When is Max Verstappen’s next race?
Verstappen returns to Formula 1 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on September 24-26, 2026, with the race unusually held on Saturday, September 26. He finished second to Antonelli in Madrid and third at Monza before that, so Red Bull arrive in Baku with their best run of form of the season. A win there would be his first of 2026 that counts for points.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Max Verstappen win Max vs 100?
Yes. Verstappen started 101st and passed all 100 rivals on lap 14 of a possible 30, taking around 35 minutes to complete the challenge at Silverstone on September 16, 2026.
How many karts did Verstappen pass on the first lap?
He passed 64 karts on the opening lap, climbing from 101st to 37th in under two minutes as a large group of drivers spun and got stuck in the first corners.
Who finished second in Max vs 100?
Jacky Martens, a Dutch Formula 1 journalist who had qualified on pole, was the last driver Verstappen overtook and was classified second. Red Bull Powertrains technician Lewis Osler was third and YouTuber Zac Alsop fourth.
What were the rules of Max vs 100?
Verstappen had 30 laps to overtake 100 amateur drivers, each of whom was eliminated as soon as he passed them. All karts were identical and every driver was ballasted to 85kg. Challengers could use one shortcut “fast lap” in the first 15 laps, while Verstappen could only use his from lap 16, which he never needed.
Where can I watch Max vs 100?
The race was streamed live on ESPN on Disney+ worldwide and on the ESPN App in the United States, with a delayed broadcast on ESPN2. A full replay is available on Disney+.
