Later today, Max Verstappen will strap on his helmet and take to the track at the Silverstone circuit in England for a rather unusual race. The four-time Formula 1 world champion is recognized as the leading talent of his generation, but unlike some of the legends that have preceded him, Verstappen’s passion for motorsport extends beyond just the rarified world of F1. With apologies to Midweek Motorsport, but if it has wheels and they keep score, odds are good Verstappen’s down to race it. So at noon Eastern Time (5 pm BST) today, September 16, Verstappen will slip into something a little more basic: a kart.
It’s one of 101 identical karts that have been sourced from Eastern Europe for the event—the other 100 will be driven by a mix of content creators and Red Bull athletes, all of whom fancy their chances at beating one of the world’s greatest drivers at his own game. They get a bit of an advantage, all starting ahead of Verstappen. Once he passes another karter, they’re out of the race, and Verstappen has 30 laps of a purpose-designed layout at Silverstone to get through them all and win.
Other F1 drivers have attempted slightly similar challenges in the past—Alex Albon raced 25 kids last year, and last month Oliver Bearman raced 50 amateurs. But neither is as high-profile as Verstappen, and neither is facing as much competition.
It might have been many years since Verstappen traded his kart for things larger and faster, but that’s no reason to doubt his abilities.
When you’re Max Verstappen, you can get your F1 contract to allow you to do other races you find interesting, like the Nürburgring 24h.
Credit:
Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool
“Max is pretty unique in comparison to the other Grand Prix drivers in that he’s already done the Nürburgring 24 hours in his GT3. He’s out testing those cars often. I saw his quote saying that it’s been a while since he did karting; do we honestly think that he hasn’t gone and done a little test? It’s Max Verstappen! He’s a serial winner, and therefore he’s not turning up here to shine a spotlight on some other individual. He’s going to go for it, and he’s going to try and achieve this target,” said David Coulthard, a Grand Prix winner and one of Red Bull Racing’s first factory drivers.