Array maximum without loops

You are given an array of $n$ numbers. Find the largest element without loops, using recursion.

The first line contains $n$ ($1 \le n \le 10^4$). The second line contains $n$ integers ($|a_i| \le 10^9$).

A single integer — the largest element of the array.

There are two ways. One by one: $\max(a_1..a_n) = \max(a_n, \max(a_1..a_{n-1}))$, the base case is a single element. In halves: split the array in the middle, find the maximum of each half recursively and take the larger.

In Python the recursion depth is limited to about $1000$ calls, so for $n = 10^4$ the one-by-one way raises RecursionError. Splitting in halves needs a depth of only $\log_2 n \approx 14$ (or raise the limit with sys.setrecursionlimit).