Max Verstappen needed just 14 laps and 35 minutes to overtake 100 amateur drivers in an exhibition go-kart race at Silverstone.
The four-time Formula 1 world champion had a maximum of 35 laps and 75 minutes to pass everyone on an adapted track at the grand prix circuit in Northamptonshire. He finished the challenge with 21 laps and 40 minutes to spare.
Red Bull's Verstappen, 28, was up to 37th by the end of a chaotic opening lap in which many drivers crashed or spun out, briefly suspending the racing.
"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," he said. "After my first lap with all the carnage, I did think 'OK, we have got this under control'. From there on, I could really have a lot of fun trying to hunt them all down."
The format gave the exercise its shape: every driver Verstappen passed had to retire. He moved into 10th by the start of lap six and was fourth by lap 10, having warned participants over race radio that "it's not a charity event".
The field was made up of television, sport and social media personalities, with no professional racing drivers. By that stage it consisted of just three: Dutch Formula 1 journalist Jacky Martens, Red Bull engine builder Lewis Osler and YouTuber Zac Alsop.
All three were granted an extra 'fast lap', allowing them to cut a corner of the track to hold Verstappen off for longer, but he reeled them in. Martens, who had taken pole position in qualifying, was the last driver to be passed.
"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," Verstappen said.
The setting had a certain symmetry. Verstappen began his racing career as a junior in karting, starting at the age of four and competing in championships from seven, before going on to win 71 grands prix and four consecutive world titles between 2021 and 2024.
"It was great to just be back in a go-kart again and go back to basics, it reminded me of racing back in the day," he added. "It's a really beautiful track and well designed. I had a great day and it was good to come out with the win."
Because each overtake ended a competitor's race, however, the event produced something a normal grand prix does not: a clean rate. One hundred drivers were removed from the circuit in 35 minutes. That is 2.86 drivers a minute, or one roughly every 21 seconds, sustained for over half an hour.
The Questionable Times' analysts have applied this rate to the time Verstappen did not use. At 2.86 drivers a minute, the 40 unused minutes represent a further 114 amateurs, which the organisers did not supply. The full capacity of the session was therefore 214 drivers, and the event ran at 47% of its designed throughput.
The Department of Unnecessary Research advises Silverstone that any future attempt should provide a grid of at least 214 celebrities, journalists and engine builders. Anything less and the four-time world champion will simply finish early, climb out of his kart, and begin looking around for something else to overtake.