Max Verstappen admitted he was "a little bit worried" before the start of Red Bull's Max vs 100 go-karting race at Silverstone on Wednesday evening. Starting from the very back with 100 amateur drivers ahead, the four-time Formula 1 world champion had every reason to be cautious.
But any doubts vanished in just 14 laps. Verstappen needed only 35 minutes to overtake all 100 rivals and claim victory. His start was nothing short of spectacular: he passed 64 karts on a chaotic opening lap that saw numerous crashes and spins, triggering a full course yellow.
"When I went to the grid and I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried," Verstappen conceded. "After my first lap with all the carnage, I did think, 'Okay we have got this under control!' It started to become really fun and once I started getting into a rhythm and was able to overtake them one by one and saw the gap closing, that was really exciting."
The race was scheduled for either 30 laps or 75 minutes, but the 28-year-old Dutchman completed his mission in less than half that time, passing fellow countryman and F1 journalist Jacky Martens for the final spot. It was a masterclass in race craft, not just raw speed.
Track designer and race director David Terrien was full of praise. "Going through the traffic of such a big field, no one has done it. There's never been a karting race with so many karts. So even Max was questioning himself just before the start, how he could go through the traffic. When you look at the replay, he picked the right spots. Every time there was a gap, he went for it. He was on the right side of the track when there was a crash going on the other side," Terrien said.
Terrien added: "I was talking to Max's race engineer and we were looking at the replay of the start. Max sees something we don't see. He sees a gap that's going to open and it's not open yet. So I think that's a race vision, that's something he has that most of the drivers don't have."
For Verstappen, the event was a joyful return to his roots. "It was great to just be in a go-kart again and go back to basics, it reminded me of racing back in the day. It's a really beautiful track and well designed and it was a nice touch to be able to get all the data fed through the radio too. I had a great day and it was good to come out with the win!" he concluded.
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