Max Verstappen will start at the back of a 101-kart field at Silverstone on Wednesday, attempting to overtake 100 rivals in a made-for-television event called "Max vs 100," broadcast live on Disney+ and ESPN at 1700 BST.
David Coulthard, who raced against Verstappen's father Jos in Formula 1, told the Daily Mail the event is about more than entertainment. He said it gives Verstappen, whose passion for racing extends far beyond F1, a chance to simply race.
"Unquestionably," Coulthard said when asked whether Verstappen needs challenges like this to enjoy himself after a frustrating 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."
Verstappen's frustrating title defence
Red Bull have fallen away from the front of the field under the current regulations, leaving Verstappen sixth in the 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.
Coulthard said Verstappen's dissatisfaction with the current generation of Formula 1 cars should not be dismissed as simply the frustration of a driver 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."
A route back to his karting roots
Verstappen's commitment to racing outside 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 said afterwards that he had "really enjoyed the experience" and would be open to similar events.
He has also remained active in esports, with Coulthard noting that members of the public can race against Verstappen through his sim-racing operation. Coulthard argued the key point about Wednesday's event is simple. "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."
Who Verstappen must overtake
The 100-strong field is drawn from sport, gaming, social media and motorsport. It includes ultrarunner Arda Saatci, basketball shooting specialist Chris "Lethal Shooter" Matthews, freestyle mountain biker Matt Jones, streamers TheGrefg, Caedrel and TheDonato, and Daily Mail sports presenter Henry Williams.
Coulthard expects Verstappen's racing instincts to take over once the lights go out. "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. He's a great racer. He will find spaces. If you try and block the inside, he'll go the outside."
Coulthard suggested the field might 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. "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."
Verstappen is using the event as a return to his roots, having first karted at the age of four.
Hamilton's fading title hopes
The wider Formula 1 picture looks very different for Lewis Hamilton, whose first season at Ferrari has grown increasingly difficult from a championship standpoint. Hamilton sits third on 191 points, 101 behind Antonelli after the Italian claimed his 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 win.
Coulthard believes Hamilton's mathematical hopes of an eighth world title are now extremely remote, even if Ferrari 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," he said.
He added that the sport ultimately limits what any driver can achieve. "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. 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."
Antonelli's rise at Mercedes
Hamilton's position is made more striking by the form of the driver who replaced him at Mercedes. Antonelli, just 20, has already won eight of the 14 races this season and leads teammate George Russell by 81 points. His victory at Monza also made him the first Italian driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since 1966.
Coulthard said he has been struck by Antonelli's attitude as much as his speed. "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 airs live on Disney+ and ESPN at 1700 BST on 16 September.
