Max Verstappen came from 101st and last to secure his first victory of the year at the ‘Max vs 100’ go-kart race inside 14 laps at Silverstone.
The four-time Formula One world champion saw off a field consisting of content creators, fans and athletes, all in equal karting machinery, to win the challenge with 40 minutes still allowed.
“That was simply lovely,” said Verstappen after passing pole-sitter, Dutch journalist Jacky Martens, to seal the win.
The pre-race algorithms indicated Verstappen, without a victory in F1 so far this year, would require one hour to pass his 100 competitors.
But a chaotic start saw Verstappen end the opening lap already up to 36th place.
A full-course yellow following a multi-kart pile-up initially curtailed Verstappen’s progress, but by the beginning of just the fourth lap, the Dutch driver had already eliminated 75 drivers and was 25th in the order.
Two laps later Verstappen was inside the top 10 as he seamlessly scythed his way through the field.
Verstappen’s rivals ahead were allowed a so-called ‘Chucky lap’ which allowed them to cut the corner and increase their advantage on three occasions.
Verstappen told Zak Brown towards the end of last season: “Call me Chucky” after the McLaren CEO compared him to a horror movie villain who “keeps coming back” in his bid to, unsuccessfully in the end, stop Lando Norris from landing his maiden world title.
The ‘cheat’ lap allowed the top-three to delay the inevitable but Verstappen passed Martens on the 14th lap to take the win with just 35 minutes on the clock.
Speaking prior to the Red Bull stunt, Verstappen said it would be “a bit embarrassing” if he failed to land the win.
“I thought my first lap would be a disaster but I got helped out by people being super-excited and crashing,” said the 28-year-old, who recently committed his future to Red Bull through to 2030.
Verstappen has won 71 times in F1 – only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have won more races – but when asked where his exhibition victory ranks, he replied with a smile: “This is one of the best ones yet.
“The first lap was insane and I got a bit lucky there. It is nice when you are catching, I felt good, I was moving forward and I was passing karts at all different parts of the track.
“I didn’t know what to expect but it came back to me naturally. It was very, fun and very chaotic. It is my first win of the year, so I will take this one.”
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