“The four-time Formula 1 world champion will headline a one-off event called Max vs 100,” The Race reported in August 2026, “at Silverstone on September 16,” in “what is being pitched as the biggest go-kart race ever staged.” “Verstappen will start behind a field of 100 other racers,” it said, and Speedweek, quoting Red Bull’s announcement, wrote that “Max will start from the back of the field and face the challenge of overtaking every single one of the 100 challengers.” Crash.net called it “the unique challenge organised by his Red Bull team.” Reuters noted that “Verstappen has yet to win a grand prix this season and is sixth in a championship dominated by Mercedes.”
His rivals were “made up of content creators, Red Bull athletes, fans and even journalists,” Crash.net wrote, among them “streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato,” The Race said. “Organisers had allowed a maximum of 30 laps and 75 minutes,” Reuters reported, and on the Wednesday evening, “Verstappen started 101st.” Crash.net described “a chaotic first lap which saw many drivers crash out or spin, bringing out a full course yellow”: “He had to cut across the grass to avoid the carnage that wiped out around 30 of his competitors.” “Verstappen made an incredible start to pass 64 karts and find himself up to 37th by the end of a chaotic first lap,” it reported; the rivals he passed, Reuters said, “were then eliminated.”
“There was one close call for Verstappen when he launched over a kerb and lost part of his go-kart in the process,” Crash.net wrote; on lap 6, GPFans reported, “something fell off his kart in the process. It was a weight.” Still, “Verstappen was lapping more than three seconds a lap faster than his rivals,” Crash.net says, and “the race director permitted the top four an additional ‘Chucky Lap’ … which enabled them to cut the track.” As GPFans put it, “Even the fast laps given to Verstappen’s rivals to allow them a short cut couldn’t delay the inevitable.”
“Lewis Osler, a Red Bull Powertrains technician, and Dutch F1 journalist Jacky Martens were the last two drivers standing,” Crash.net reported, and “an audacious dive-bomb from Verstappen sealed an impressive win”; “he passed them both in one movement as the leaders tried to work together to stop him,” GPFans wrote. In all, Reuters said, it took “35 minutes to overtake 100 competitors.” “This is my first win of the year, so I take this one,” Verstappen said in his post-race interview, and, Reuters reported, he joked: “I think this is the best one yet.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- A Formula One champion started dead last, behind 100 go-karts. Crash.net: “Verstappen started 101st.” The Race: “Verstappen will start behind a field of 100 other racers.” Speedweek: “Max will start from the back of the field and face the challenge of overtaking every single one of the 100 challengers.” 145
- His name is Max Verstappen. The Race: “The four-time Formula 1 world champion will headline a one-off event called Max vs 100.” 4
- In 2026, he hadn’t won a single Grand Prix. Reuters (September 17, 2026): “Verstappen has yet to win a grand prix this season and is sixth in a championship dominated by Mercedes.” Crash.net: “to claim his first victory of 2026.” 31
- That September, Red Bull staged a giant kart race at Silverstone. The Race: “a one-off event called Max vs 100 at Silverstone on September 16”; “what is being pitched as the biggest go-kart race ever staged.” Crash.net: “the unique challenge organised by his Red Bull team.” Crash.net (September 17, 2026): “on Wednesday evening.” 412
- His rivals were streamers, athletes, journalists and fans. Crash.net: “his rivals - made up of content creators, Red Bull athletes, fans and even journalists.” The Race: “streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato.” 14
- He had 30 laps, and every kart he passed was out. Reuters: “Organisers had allowed a maximum of 30 laps and 75 minutes”; “The 28-year-old passed more than 60 rivals, who were then eliminated, on the chaotic opening lap.” 3
- On lap one, karts spun everywhere, and Max cut across the grass. Crash.net: “a chaotic first lap which saw many drivers crash out or spin, bringing out a full course yellow”; “He had to cut across the grass to avoid the carnage that wiped out around 30 of his competitors.” 21
- He passed 64 on that lap alone. Crash.net: “Verstappen made an incredible start to pass 64 karts and find himself up to 37th by the end of a chaotic first lap.” GPFans: “Max Verstappen passed 64 karts on Lap 1.” 26
- Then he flew over a curb and lost part of his kart. Crash.net: “There was one close call for Verstappen when he launched over a kerb and lost part of his go-kart in the process.” GPFans (lap 6): “something fell off his kart in the process. It was a weight.” 16
- He was over three seconds a lap faster than his rivals. Crash.net: “Verstappen was lapping more than three seconds a lap faster than his rivals.” 1
- The race director even gave the leaders shortcuts. Crash.net: “the race director permitted the top four an additional ‘Chucky Lap’ … which enabled them to cut the track.” GPFans: “Even the fast laps given to Verstappen’s rivals to allow them a short cut couldn’t delay the inevitable.” 16
- Soon, only two were left, a Red Bull technician and a Dutch journalist. Crash.net: “Lewis Osler, a Red Bull Powertrains technician, and Dutch F1 journalist Jacky Martens were the last two drivers standing.” 1
- Max dived past both of them in one move. Crash.net: “an audacious dive-bomb from Verstappen sealed an impressive win.” GPFans: “he passed them both in one movement as the leaders tried to work together to stop him.” 16
- It took him just 35 minutes. Crash.net: “in just 35 minutes.” Reuters: “35 minutes to overtake 100 competitors.” 13
- “This is my first win of the year, so I take this one,” he said. Crash.net: “‘This is my first win of the year, so I take this one,’ Verstappen said in his post-race interview.” 1
Sources
- Max vs 100: F1 world champion Verstappen passes 100 go-karters in 14 laps for ‘best win yet’ at Silverstone (September 16, 2026) Crash.net
- Max vs 100: What had Max Verstappen “a little bit worried” before beating 100 amateur karters (September 17, 2026) Crash.net
- Max Verstappen beats 100 rivals in Red Bull kart race (Reuters, September 17, 2026) TimesLive
- Verstappen to take on 100 rivals in world-record kart race (August 25, 2026) The Race
- Max Verstappen versus 100 kart drivers: an unusual challenge at Silverstone (August 25, 2026) Speedweek
- Max vs 100 Results: Final times and positions as Verstappen takes on epic Silverstone challenge (live blog, September 16, 2026) GPFans
Notes
Laps: Crash.net says he won in 14 laps, Reuters 13 and a GPFans live blog lap 15. The Short gives no lap count, only the 35 minutes (Crash.net, Reuters).
First-lap passes: Crash.net and GPFans say 64; Reuters says “more than 60.” The Short uses 64.
“The biggest go-kart race ever staged” is how the event was billed (The Race, Speedweek, Crash.net); no certified record was found, so the Short says only “a giant kart race.” The event was announced in August as a one-off; the Short doesn’t say Red Bull staged it because he hadn’t won.
Red Bull’s own race report and results pages couldn’t be read as text, so no fact here rests on them.
Max Verstappen is alive. Only race facts, published reports and his own published words are used; nothing here goes into his family or private life. Lewis Osler and Jacky Martens are named only for their part in the race, and the streamers only as The Race listed them.
Pictures: Red Bull’s photos and the broadcast aren’t free, so no photo here shows the race. Max Verstappen is at the Red Bull fan zone at Crown Riverwalk in Melbourne on March 5, 2026, in Australian Grand Prix week, in three photos by Yu Chu Chin. His Red Bull RB22 is at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 26, 2026 (Lukas Raich), and at Spa-Francorchamps on July 28, 2026 (Der Alf). Kart Silverstone is seen on October 22, 2026, a month after the race, in five photos by BWard 1997: the hairpin under the bridge, the International layout with its tire walls, the circuit with a Silverstone grandstand behind it, and a karter in a green helmet twice; the karter is not Max Verstappen. The packs of karts are a race at CalSpeed Karting in California in January 2012, not Max vs 100, in three photos by Ken March. The other drivers and fans in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its archive page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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