David Coulthard says Max Verstappen needs challenges such as Wednesday’s ‘Max vs 100’ karting race to sustain his passion for motorsport, with the four-time Formula 1 world champion becoming ever more frustrated by modern F1 machinery.
Verstappen will line up at the very back of a 101-kart grid at Silverstone on Wednesday, attempting to pass 100 competitors in a one-of-a-kind event that will be shown live on Disney+.
Coulthard, who competed in Formula 1 alongside Verstappen’s father Jos, believes the event offers far more than a television spectacle. For a driver whose enthusiasm reaches well beyond grand prix racing, it is a chance to do what he enjoys most: race.
‘Unquestionably,’ Coulthard told me when asked if Verstappen needs events like this to keep enjoying himself amid his frustrations this season.
‘If you look at his year to date, he’s been out testing a lot. His GT3, he raced at the Nurburgring 24 hours, was leading when the car failed. So that’s an event where you have teammates and you share the responsibility of driving that car.
‘In that respect, with no disrespect to the other Formula One drivers, Max is actually the most active and most passionate racer.’
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen will take part in the unique ‘Max vs 100’ karting race on Wednesday
Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard believes the Silverstone event represents more than simple entertainment
That hunger for competition has taken on greater importance during a challenging 2026 campaign for Verstappen.
Red Bull have slipped away from the front under the current Formula 1 regulations, with Verstappen sixth in the drivers’ championship after 14 rounds on 145 points.
Kimi Antonelli leads on 292, with Lewis Hamilton third on 191. Verstappen has taken three podiums in the last three Grands Prix, but has yet to win a race this season.
The Dutchman has also been open about his dissatisfaction with this generation of Formula 1 machinery.
Coulthard believes that criticism should not simply be dismissed as the frustration of a driver who is no longer winning every weekend.
‘He doesn’t like this particular generation of cars,’ Coulthard said. ‘I guess you could say, well, if he was winning, he would like it more, and of course that would be the case.
‘But it doesn’t take away from the fundamentals that he feels that with the hybrid era, it’s taken away an element of the pleasure for him driving, and that may well be why we’ve seen him more actively going out and doing GT racing and other forms of racing, which isn’t at all the norm for Formula One drivers.’
Verstappen’s commitment to racing away from F1 was underlined by his Nurburgring 24 Hours appearance earlier this year.
He led the race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 before his team was forced out by a driveshaft problem with just over three hours remaining.
Verstappen nevertheless said he had ‘really enjoyed the experience’ and would be open to similar events.
Verstappen is currently sixth in the championship standings with Kimi Antonelli (left) the comfortable leader
He has also remained active in esports, with Coulthard pointing to the fact that members of the public can race against Verstappen through his sim-racing operation.
And, Coulthard argues, the key point about Wednesday’s event is simple: Verstappen would not be doing it if he did not want to.
‘Whether it’s his esports team, which is active and the general public can go and race against a four-time world champion in esports, or whether it’s his GT racing, and then obviously this has been put together by Red Bull,’ he said.
‘But if he didn’t want to do it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’
The challenge itself is unlike anything Verstappen normally encounters. He will start behind 100 competitors drawn from the worlds of sport, gaming, social media and motorsport.
The pool of contestants includes ultrarunner Arda Saatci, basketball shooting specialist Chris ‘Lethal Shooter’ Matthews, freestyle mountain biker Matt Jones, streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato, and Daily Mail’s very own sports presenter, Henry Williams. Coulthard expects Verstappen’s instincts to take over.
‘If it was a Monte Carlo-esque car track, it would be very, very difficult,’ he said. ‘But thankfully, Silverstone is a wider, wider circuit. They’ve lengthened the track, and therefore he will look to overtake quickly.
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‘He’s a great racer. He will find spaces. If you try and block the inside, he’ll go the outside.’
Coulthard suspects the field may ultimately need to work together to deny Verstappen.
‘You almost need a couple of them to team up with each other to basically make it where the track is effectively blocked in front of him,’ he said.
The Dutchman Verstappen will start at the back of a 101-kart field at Silverstone and attempt to overtake 100 rivals
‘But I doubt very much that anyone’s thinking about team strategy. They’ll all be thinking about individual glory.
‘This is an opportunity for an unknown person, other than their family and friends, to suddenly be the one that beat Max.’
The wider F1 backdrop could hardly be more different. While Verstappen is using the event as a return to his roots – having first karted at four years old, Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari has become increasingly difficult from a championship perspective.
Hamilton is third in the standings on 191 points, 101 behind Antonelli after the Italian’s eighth victory of the season in Madrid on Sunday.
Hamilton retired from the Spanish Grand Prix with a brake problem, while Antonelli beat Verstappen to another victory.
Coulthard believes Hamilton’s mathematical hopes of an eighth world title are now extremely remote, even if Ferrari can make a significant step forward.
‘I don’t think, based on historical, you know, watching a Formula One, I don’t think he’s going to find the upgrade and be able to pull that points deficit back,’ Coulthard said.
But he stressed the fundamental limitation facing any driver in F1.
‘At the end of the day, our sport is, yes, the driver makes the difference, but you can only drive the car you’re given.
Daily Mail sports presenter Henry Williams is taking part in the event which is broadcast on Disney+
‘Ours is a technology sport, so it’s really the team against the next team, and then the driver makes a difference. So right now he doesn’t have the best package, but it’s not far away.’
Hamilton’s position is particularly intriguing given the man who replaced him at Mercedes.
Antonelli, only 20, has already won eight of the 14 races this season and leads team-mate George Russell by 81 points.
His Monza victory also made him the first Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix since 1966. Coulthard has been struck not only by Antonelli’s speed but by his attitude.
‘The guy has been phenomenal,’ he said. ‘And what’s been really cool to see is how grounded and how approachable he is.’
Coulthard recalled interviewing Antonelli at Monza for Channel 4 and being given a hug afterwards.
‘I think it just shows that kind of sincerity of how much he’s enjoying this moment,’ he said.
‘So I think we should all enjoy it because, of course, he’s not going to be 20 forever, and as the journey goes on, it demands and his time will increase, and he’ll probably become a little bit more guarded.’
Coulthard believes Antonelli is already establishing himself as a defining figure of the next generation.
‘He’s well on his way to becoming the first Italian world champion since the 50s, I think it was,’ he said. ‘Even the Pope will know his name.’
*Max vs 100 is produced by Whisper, created by Red Bull and will be live on Disney+ and ESPN at 1700 BST on 16th Sept*