(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen loves motorsport challenges: The four-time Formula 1 world champion participates in various sim racing events in his free time and also competed in this year’s 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Now a new task awaits the 28-year-old Dutchman.
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The Red Bull driver will compete against a total of 100 drivers on September 16, 2026 – in the world’s largest kart race on a specially built kart track in Silverstone. The catch: Verstappen will start from the back of the field and must overtake all 100 competitors before time runs out.
The race is called “Max vs 100” and will be broadcast live worldwide on Disney+ and in the USA on ESPN. The Formula 1 driver will face a field composed of stars from various disciplines.
These include Red Bull athletes, celebrities, content creators, and regular fans. The full list of participants has not yet been released. Red Bull has so far only confirmed the participation of ultrarunner Arda Saatci, basketball star Chris Matthews, freestyle mountain biker Matt Jones, and streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel, and TheDonato.
Kart Race is a classic Red Bull show event
Verstappen thus returns to his roots, as the Dutchman began his karting career at the age of four. Through the junior categories, he worked his way up to Formula 1 and made his Grand Prix debut at the age of 17 for Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls).
“In karting, you learn all the basics: starts, defending, overtaking,” says the four-time world champion. “Of course, I’ve spent a large part of my life in karting, so it’s always nice to come back. It’s about understanding the grip of the kart.”
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“I’ve been karting for so many years that you naturally get back into it,” the Dutchman is convinced. However, the karting event will not be a classic race: Red Bull announced in a statement that the broadcast will be staged with graphics reminiscent of video games and spectacular aerial drone footage.
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Furthermore, Verstappen will have the opportunity to speak directly with his competitors via radio. This is in contrast to Formula 1, where drivers can only communicate with their team. Overall, it will therefore be more of a show event than a professional kart race.
Max Verstappen will “have his hands full”
French driver and race director David Terrien designed the layout of the track in Silverstone. Terrien himself tested the course together with two-time iRacing world champion Sebastian Job. “When Max Verstappen is chasing everyone, I think it will be the experience of a lifetime for all drivers,” says Terrien.
“You’ll be able to watch Max demonstrate all these skills, reading the traffic, trying to prepare and plan where he can overtake people, and working his way through traffic as quickly as possible because he doesn’t want to let the drivers at the front get away.”
Job adds: “I think overtaking 100 karts will be extremely difficult. Today we did it with 50, and even that was a challenge to do it within the given time. He will definitely have his hands full.”
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