Serage's Journey from TikTok to Racing with Max Verstappen

The first time Serage clipped an apex in anger, it wasn’t at Silverstone. It was in an electric kart in East Auckland, trying to process the fact that her next set of laps would be in front of Max Verstappen – and the world.

“One of my dreams was to meet Max Verstappen,” she said, still sounding slightly dazed by how quickly her online life has spilled into real tarmac. “My brain is a bit all over the show – but I’m ready.”

From TikTok to the World Champion

Serage, a 30-year-old creator from Auckland, built a following with “Race Mode” and a string of playful car videos. They were never meant to be a career ladder to Formula One royalty. Yet those clips have put her on the grid with Verstappen in a made-for-streaming race at Silverstone, to be broadcast on Disney+ on September 16.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think ‘Race Mode’ and all my silly car videos would get me in front of Max,” she admitted. “To see him talking and inviting me? I’m going to keep that video forever.”

This isn’t a throwaway influencer stunt. Red Bull has assembled a 100-strong field of athletes, celebrities, creators and fans, all tasked with one mission: keep Verstappen behind them for as long as humanly possible.

Serage is the only official New Zealand representative in that group, hand-picked by Red Bull. She will at least have a familiar accent in the paddock, with New Zealand-born, Australian-based TikTokker Nathan Lust also involved.

Learning to fight, not just to drive

The romance of the story is obvious. The reality is less forgiving. In less than three weeks she has to go from content creator to someone capable of making life awkward for a four-time Formula One world champion.

No one around her is treating it lightly.

Serage has thrown herself into preparation at Game Over in East Auckland, where she has been learning the basics of racecraft in an electric go-kart before stepping into a petrol-powered machine at Silverstone. Her tutor? Daniel Gaunt – two-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner, former Toyota Racing Series champion and Supercars driver, who owns and operates the venue.

“I felt good, Dan from Game Over was giving me tips,” she said after her first proper session. “We did some great laps, I was following behind him and learning apexes.”

That’s not the only Kiwi expertise she’s leaned on. Drifting star Mad Mike has also offered advice, adding another layer of local know-how to a crash course in how to survive on one of motorsport’s most historic circuits.

The step from indoor karts to Silverstone is enormous, but Serage isn’t backing away from it.

“I feel more pumped-up and more ready than ever,” she said. “Electric cars are faster than petrol ones, [but] once I feel the petrol ones, I think I’ll be quite ready.”

At home, she’s been logging hours on a simulator, laser-focused on one track.

“We have a simulator that I’ve set up for Silverstone. That’s going to help me prepare, knowing what I’m looking at when I get there. I’ve never been to Silverstone before, this is my first long-haul flight ever.”

From bedroom rig to Britain’s racing cathedral in one leap. No half measures.

Trying to hold back a tidal wave

And then there’s the man she has to try to stop.

Verstappen arrives as a force of nature. At 28, the Dutch driver is already one of the most dominant figures the sport has seen: four Formula One world titles, 71 grand prix victories, 131 podiums across 12 seasons, and a long-term Red Bull deal that runs through 2030. He is used to swatting away the best professionals on the planet. A grid full of non-professionals should, on paper, be a stroll.

Serage knows that. She isn’t pretending otherwise.

“There’s qualifying, so my goal is to make it as far as I can in that,” she said. Start as high as possible. Buy time. Make him work.

“When he does come up – which he will, he’s Max Verstappen – I’m going to try and have a little battle to keep on the driving line and see what I can do.

“I do think he’ll overtake me, that’s inevitable, but I definitely want to have a fun interaction with him.”

That’s the contest in a nutshell. Verstappen, the serial champion, hunting. Serage, the self-made creator from Auckland, doing everything she can to keep him in her mirrors for just a few corners longer.

For one day at Silverstone, the gap between the digital world and the Formula One elite closes to a few car lengths. The question now is simple: when Verstappen looms large in her mirrors, does she move aside – or make him earn it?