Four-times World Champion Max Verstappen will return to his karting roots next month for a one-off Red Bull challenge in which he will try and pass 100 karts in one race.
Red Bull will hold a karting race called “Max vs 100,” in which Verstappen will start at the back of a field that will include Red Bull athletes, celebrities, content creators and a select few invited fans.
The event will take place at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, on September 16.
As part of the event, Verstappen will be mic-ed up and be able to communicate directly with his opponents.
The event will be broadcast live on Disney+ and on the ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited subscribers.
“In go-karts you learn all the basics: starts, defending, overtaking,” said Verstappen.
“Of course, I spent a long period of my life go-karting, so it’s always nice to return. It’s about understanding the grip of the go-kart. I’ve done so many years in go-karting that you quite naturally get back into things. I will be looking forward to just seeing the carnage unfold in front of me.”
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Max Verstappen karting at Monza (top) and Shanghai (above), both in 2017.
The exact circuit layout, and length of the race, has not yet been disclosed, but it has been formulated by ex-racer and karting champion David Terrien.
“Creating a track for 100 drivers at the same time has never been done, never been seen,” said Terrien. “So it’s very exciting. When you have Max Verstappen chasing everyone, I think that’s going to be the experience of a lifetime for all the drivers.
“You’re going to have Max showcasing all these skills of looking through the traffic, trying to prepare and plan where he can overtake people, and going through the traffic at the fastest speed he can because he doesn’t want to let the drivers at the front pull away.”
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.