Max Verstappen takes on 100 drivers in a Sodi SR4 at Silverstone
PHOTO CREDIT - MARK ROE / RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Four-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen returned to his karting roots at Silverstone, taking on 100 drivers in a Sodi SR4 390cc in one of the most ambitious karting challenges ever staged.
What happens when one of the world's fastest racing drivers starts a karting race at the very back of a 101-driver grid?
You get Max vs 100.
Created by Red Bull, the challenge saw Max Verstappen return to karting at Silverstone for a race unlike any other. Starting from P101, he had 100 drivers between himself and the chequered flag.
His objective was simple:
Overtake every single one.
And underneath him for the challenge was a Sodi SR4 390cc, supplied from the fleet at Kart Silverstone.
Back to where it all began
PHOTO CREDIT - JOERG MITTER / RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Before Formula One. Before four World Championships. Before racing at the front of the world's most prestigious circuits, Max Verstappen was a karting driver.
He first climbed into a kart at just four years old and began competing in championships at seven.
Karting provided the foundations for the racecraft that would eventually take him to Formula One: positioning, braking, overtaking, defending and, perhaps most importantly, learning how to race wheel-to-wheel.
Ahead of the challenge, Verstappen reflected on exactly what karting had taught him:
“In go-karts you learn all the basics: starts, defending, overtaking.”
Max vs 100 gave him the chance to put those fundamentals back into practice.
101 drivers. One Sodi KART. One way through.
The challenge brought 100 competitors together alongside Verstappen, creating a 101-kart grid at Silverstone.
The field featured a mix of athletes, creators, streamers, personalities and racing enthusiasts, all sharing the circuit with one of the most accomplished drivers in motorsport.
Verstappen started at the very back.
P101.
The scale of the challenge was immediately obvious.
With more than 100 karts competing for position, finding a clear line through the field would be difficult enough. Doing it while avoiding contact, managing traffic and maintaining momentum required something else entirely: racecraft.
And that's exactly where Verstappen's karting experience came into play.
The Sodi SR4 goes to work
PHOTO CREDIT - JOERG MITTER - RED BULL CONTENT POOL
For the challenge, Verstappen took to the track in a Sodi SR4 390cc.
The SR4 is part of Sodikart's range of rental and leisure karts, designed to provide an engaging and competitive driving experience while delivering the reliability required in a professional karting environment.
At Kart Silverstone, the SR4 390cc provides the machinery behind the racing experience, giving customers the opportunity to experience the same karting environment that hosted one of motorsport's biggest names.
For Max vs 100, the SR4 was put through an altogether different test.
A 101-kart field.
35 minutes of racing.
And a Formula One World Champion attempting to pass every driver on track.
P101 to P1
As the lights went out, Verstappen immediately began working his way through the field.
The opening section of the race was chaotic, with 101 karts negotiating the first corners together. While other drivers battled for position, Verstappen picked his moments, identifying gaps and making moves before they disappeared.
The result was a rapid climb through the field.
One driver.
Then another.
Then another.
By Lap 6, Verstappen had reached the top ten.
From there, the challenge became a race against the clock.
The further forward he moved, the fewer opportunities there were to make easy overtakes. Every position required judgement, timing and precision.
But Verstappen continued to find a way through.
After 14 laps and 35 minutes, he had done it.
P101 to P1.
Every driver had been overtaken.
A masterclass in racecraft
The numbers tell part of the story.
Verstappen recorded a fastest lap of 2:20.673, more than two and a half seconds quicker than the next fastest driver.
But the most impressive aspect of the challenge wasn't simply his outright pace.
It was his ability to navigate traffic.
In karting, the gap you need isn't always there when you first see it. The best drivers anticipate where it is going to appear and position themselves accordingly.
That's something Verstappen has been doing since he was a child.
As Race Director David Terrien observed during the challenge, Verstappen has an instinct for identifying opportunities before they fully open.
It was that instinct that allowed him to carve his way through a field of 100 drivers.
THE FUNDAMENTALS NEVER CHANGE FOR MAX
PHOTO CREDIT - PREDRAG VUCKOVIC - RED BULL CONTENT POOL
For Verstappen, returning to a kart was about more than simply competing in another race.
It was a return to the fundamentals.
No Formula One car.
No DRS.
No pit stops.
No tyre strategy.
Just a kart, a circuit and 100 drivers standing between him and victory.
And that is precisely what makes karting so special.
The same basic principles apply whether you're taking part in your first ever karting session or fighting for position at the front of a Formula One grid.
Brake later.
Find the apex.
Protect your position.
Spot the gap.
Make the move.
From Silverstone to the world stage
Sodi has been at the heart of karting for decades, developing karts that bring the thrill of racing to drivers of all abilities.
Max Verstappen's appearance at Kart Silverstone provided a unique showcase of that philosophy.
The Sodi SR4 390cc that carried Verstappen through the challenge wasn't built specifically for a Formula One World Champion.
It was part of the karting fleet.
The same type of kart that customers can experience when they arrive at Kart Silverstone.
That makes Max vs 100 particularly fitting.
Because karting has never been about who you are before you put your helmet on.
It's about what you can do once you're on track.
Max vs 100: the numbers
101 — drivers on the grid
100 — competitors for Verstappen to overtake
P101 → P1 — his journey through the field
14 — laps completed
35 minutes — time taken to complete the challenge
2:20.673 — Verstappen's fastest lap
390cc — the Sodi SR4 engine
Back to basics. Built for everyone.
Max Verstappen may have gone on to become a four-time Formula One World Champion, but Max vs 100 was a reminder that every racing career starts in the same place.
Karting.
At Silverstone, Verstappen climbed into a Sodi SR4 390cc and returned to the fundamentals that shaped his career.
Then he did what he has spent his life learning to do.
He raced.
P101 to P1.
100 drivers overtaken.
One Sodi kart.
And a FOREVER desire to go faster.