Max Verstappen is used to staring down a grid of 19 rivals on a Sunday afternoon. On Sept. 16 at Silverstone, that number becomes 100.
The four-time world champion is stepping back into his karting roots for “Max vs 100,” an all‑out chase against a packed field of amateur and semi‑pro drivers, streamed live worldwide on ESPN on Disney+.
This is no casual exhibition. Verstappen will start at the back with a simple, brutal target: 30 laps to overtake every single kart on track.
A different kind of grid
The cast list looks nothing like a Formula 1 entry sheet. Streamers Pieface, Caedrel and TheDonato line up alongside ultrarunner Arda Saatçi, basketball shooting specialist Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews and 2019 Love Island winner Amber Gill, plus a raft of other athletes and online personalities.
Their shared mission is refreshingly blunt: keep Max behind.
To strip away excuses, every kart is identical. Total weight — driver plus kit — must hit 85kg. Anyone under that threshold gets ballast bolted on. No one can claim an equipment edge; this is about racecraft, nerve and how long you can handle a charging world champion filling your mirrors.
“A hundred is a lot”
Verstappen has spent a career making overtaking look routine, but even he knows this is a different kind of traffic jam.
“A hundred is a lot, you know,” he told ESPN. He’s already had a look at the bespoke Silverstone layout and likes what he’s seen. The track has been designed with passing in mind, but he isn’t expecting a gentle evening drive. “I think it will be good,” he said. “But it’s still going to be hectic, for sure.”
Strategy in a Formula 1 race is mapped out to the lap. Here, Verstappen wants to keep it loose.
Asked how he plans to attack the swarm ahead of him, he admitted he first needs to gauge the spread in talent. Some will be raw, some surprisingly sharp. “I think I first need to understand and see the level between drivers,” he said.
Then comes the instinct that has carried him through countless junior kart races and on to F1 dominance. “I also don't like to overthink the situation. I just need to go with the flow and try to make the best of it.”
Pride on the line
Strip away the showbiz and there’s a simple competitive thread: Verstappen does not come to lose, especially not in a kart.
“I'm hoping that with my background, I should be faster than most. I hope!” he said, only half‑joking, before adding the sting in the tail. “I mean, it would be quite embarrassing if they're faster than me!”
The rules are clear, the machinery level, the stage iconic. Silverstone has seen Verstappen dominate in a Red Bull; now it will test whether the sport’s most ruthless frontrunner can carve his way through a hundred‑strong wall of rivals in just 30 laps.
The build‑up show begins at 5 p.m., with the race set for 6 p.m., live globally on ESPN on Disney+. In the U.S., fans can also watch on the ESPN App for Unlimited subscribers, with a delayed ESPN2 broadcast later in the day.
For once, the stopwatch won’t be the only judge. The question is sharper than that: can anyone out there stop Max Verstappen in a kart?
