Max Verstappen wins the Max vs 100 challenge: 'A lot of fun'

Published on 16 September 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen came out on top during the exclusive reality TV challenge ‘Max vs 100’. On a specially designed karting track on the famous Silverstone circuit, Max was positioned behind 100 other drivers and set with the following challenge: overtake all the other contestants within 30 laps. After a chaotic opening lap, in which Max managed to pass over half the grid (64 drivers in all), he set to picking off the remaining competition one-by-one. Even with some last minute rule changes, Max managed to pass all 100 passengers in 35 minutes, and emerge the winner.

Taking his trophy, Max cheekily joked: “It’s my first one of the year, so I’ll take this one!”

After the race, Max told the happy crowd: “My first lap was quite incredible. There was a lot happening and actually a few karts got stuck, and I always managed to just be on the other side, so I didn’t get stuck. And that made me get like 60 people in the first lap. That helps a lot in getting to the front! The hopping (in the car) helps a lot, then you have a lot more momentum. You have to anticipate that some people will lose their braking point in the first lap, so I was always a bit early on the brakes, so that worked out so when people spin out, you have some time to react. Only a few bumps, but it’s quite impressive because I expected a lot more. But I got lucky in the first lap in a few places, it was a lot of fun.”

Max is up against 100 people in the special 'Max vs 100' challenge on the Silverstone circuit. The 100 participants are drawn from an international group composed of influencers, content creators, Red Bull-athletes, journalists and TV personalities. Max starts from the back of the grid, and gets 30 laps to overtake all participants and win the race. A special karting track has been designed with plenty of overtake possibilities. Once Max has passed a participant, they’re officially out of the race.

To keep the race fair, all participants have to weigh at least 85 kilos, with lighter participants receiving extra weights attached to their cars. In addition, Max’s opponents get to take a shortcut across the track, the so-called Chucky corner (a reference to Max’s infamous response to Zak Brown, who had described the Dutchman as a persistent on-track hunter in the vein of a horror-movie villain: “Call me Chucky!). Max will be able to take advantage of the Chucky corner in the second half of the race. During the race Max is able to communicate with the other drivers, ensuring extra entertainment factor.

 At the start of the unique race, Max is full of enthusiasm: “Curious to see what’s gonna happen in a couple of hours. A few months ago now (I was approached with the idea for Max vs 100) and I was like: ‘Hmm. Ok, yeah. Interesting.’ And of course, in the weeks that passed, they were laying out the plan and I was like: ‘That looks cool. Challenging, for sure!’.”

With this outing in his Go-Kart, Max returns to his roots: “I started driving when I was four and a half, in a very small Go-Kart. You work your way up through the Go-Karts with age. But I’ve done it eleven or twelve years. But a long time ago now!“

Before the race start, Max is not convinced that he’ll win: “It’s not impossible, but it will be very tough. But that’s good right? That’s why it’s a challenge. I’m gonna try my best and we’ll see where we end up. I think the first two laps will be the critical ones, because that’s where you pass the most people and where you will lose the most time. That’s where you can lose the most time. That will be very critical — to try and clear the traffic as soon as possible.”

At the start of the session it’s clear skies and dry weather. To make the conditions more exciting for the contestants, one corner has been artificially made wet. Jacky Martens starts on pole; the Formula 1 reporter writes for the Limburger, and put his years of knowledge to good use by clinching first place. A Limburg local will be starting on first and last place on the grid. At lights out, Max is off like a rocket and zigzags his way through scores of contestants. The first turn is chaos that Max barely squeezes through; a couple of drivers spin in his way and to avoid contact, Max cuts across the grass. “I have no idea what’s going on. It’s chaos,” Max reports via radio. 

Behind Max a bottleneck forms at the hairpin and a full course yellow is summoned, while the drivers carefully navigate off the track. In the meantime, Max is up to 36th, having knocked out 64 of his rivals. 

In lap two the field is freed up once more, and Max immediately is back on the attack. By lap four he’s climbed his way into the top 20, and at the start of the sixth lap he’s in the top ten. He has a minor hiccup in lap seven, bumbling along the side of the track, and he loses a weight attached to his kart. A kilo lighter, Max settles in for the hunt and by the end of the lap has claimed fifth place. He has a five second gap to make up in order to catch up to the car in fourth place. He manages to close it in just on lap. His distance to the three front runners is ten seconds. 

Max gains on the top runners at lightning fast speed. In 35 minutes, Max has squeezed and fought his way past the tight top three pack. Crossing the line, Max rewards fans with his favorite phrase: “Simply Lovely”, and cheekily calls it his best win yet.