Max Verstappen turned a novelty karting showcase into a familiar result on Wednesday evening at Silverstone, winning Red Bull's special Max vs 100 event after starting from 101st place. The four-time F1 World Champion needed just 14 laps and 35 minutes to work through the field and complete one of the more eye-catching stunt events of the season.
The format was simple enough on paper but difficult in practice: 100 competitors, a 30-lap target, and a 2.5km track that gave Verstappen very little room for error. A couple of practice days had been held for challengers beforehand under the supervision of Arvid Lindblad, but Verstappen still came in with only a brief look at the circuit himself. As he put it, he had “three or four laps on the track,” and that was basically all his preparation.
A fast start changed everything
Starting dead last meant Verstappen had to make up ground immediately, and he did exactly that. On the opening lap he gained 64 places, with the timing screens showing him already up to 37th. From there, the climb stayed relentless. By Lap 4 he was 25th, by Lap 6 he was 10th, and by Lap 7 he had reached fifth place. His reaction along the way captured how quickly the race was moving, with Verstappen joking, “Not a bad first lap, then!”
The final stages were more straightforward, though no less decisive. After 35 minutes and 14 laps, Verstappen passed the final three competitors and sealed the win. When he crossed the line, he called the run “simply lovely” and added, “It’s my first win of the year, so I’ll take this one!”
Why Silverstone mattered
The event was more than a one-off karting race. Red Bull treated Max vs 100 as a headline encounter and it was followed closely across social media, fitting into the team’s long history of sporting stunts. That made the setting at Silverstone important in its own right, especially coming just days after Verstappen had already been on the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix.
There was also a wider entertainment element to the day. Red Bull has frequently used cross-sport promotion to draw attention beyond the grand prix calendar, and Silverstone has recently been a stage for other large-scale gatherings too, including events such as Carfest moving to Silverstone with 1,000 vehicles and £28m total, while other crossovers like the Ajith Kumar and C Joseph Vijay reunion at Silverstone on September 12 have also added to the circuit’s profile. The same venue has been the backdrop for major two-wheel headlines as well, including Aprilia’s first Sprint 1-2-3 as Jorge Martin wins at Silverstone - Motogp Live.
For Verstappen, though, the result was less about spectacle than the chance to get back into karting, a discipline that helped shape his rise to Formula 1. As he said, he grew up racing a lot in karts, and once a driver’s formula career takes over, there is not much time to return to them. On Wednesday, that changed for one night. He started from 101st, worked through 100 challengers, and finished first in a format that gave Silverstone a different kind of race-day buzz.
