Max Verstappen reveals the inspiration behind his now well-known pseudonym, Franz Hermann. The Dutchman raced under this fake German name at the Nürburgring last May, and immediately broke the track record for a GT3 car on the German circuit. “It had to be an unknown name,” explains Verstappen.
It’s no secret to fans of the Dutch world champion that Max Verstappen enjoys getting behind the wheel of a race car outside of Formula 1. The driver even previously received restrictions from Red Bull on his late-night sim racing during Grand Prix weekends. However, it was a bit of a surprise when Verstappen suddenly appeared at the Nürburgring last May. This was mainly because the Dutchman was racing under the now well-known pseudonym Franz Hermann.”In a recent interview with Ford Performance, host Chris Harris inquired about the inspiration behind Max Verstappen‘s German pseudonym. “The team, Emil Frey Racing (with whom Verstappen’s own Verstappen.com Racing collaborates), with whom we share the GT3 car, said to me: ‘You can also drive under a pseudonym. Do you have something in mind?’. And then I said: ‘Let’s make it sound very German.’ Franz Hermann, that sounds good. It had to be an unknown name, otherwise people would discover it.”
Track Record
Eventually, it became known that the four-time world champion was behind the pseudonym. However, for Verstappen, it didn’t matter, as the Dutchman had already broken the track record for a GT3 car with a time of 7:49.578. “The first lap was still a 7:56 on the VLN layout (consisting of the Nürburgring and the current Nürburgring F1 circuit),” Verstappen explains. “A few weeks before, a 7:51 was enough for pole position. We were still driving with a full tank, because I wanted to drive a few laps in a row. The second lap was already 7:54, then my sim driver had a turn. When it was my turn again, with a new set of tires, it was a 7:48. So that was good.”
