Max Verstappen has opened up on why he chose to run under the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’ during his recent record-breaking lap at the Nordschleife.
The Dutchman took part in a GT3 test at the Nürburgring in a Ferrari 296, just a week before the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
To keep a low profile, Verstappen raced under the fake name ‘Franz Hermann’ displayed on his car.
The Red Bull driver already has previous experience at the Nordschleife, participating in test and setup sessions of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie).
It’s no secret he’s passionate about it as the four-time World Champion looks destined for a career outside of F1.
He tested for Emil Frey Racing last Friday and managed to set a supposed lap time of seven minutes and 47 seconds.
Whilst the lap record may have been the more impressive feat, the origins and backstory surrounding the fake name caught the attention of the motorsport world.
Ahead of the upcoming race weekend, Verstappen was asked how he came up with it.
“They asked me for a fake name, so I said let’s make it as German as we can,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
Pressed further as to why he felt the need to create a fake name, he replied: “Because then you’re not on the entry list.
“Otherwise, people rock up at 8am knowing that my name is on the entry list.
“I knew that once I was there that people would realise, it’s normal, but at least I wasn’t on the entry list name.
“So at least at 8, 9am, it was pretty calm.”
Asked if he would consider competing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the 27-year-old stated: “Yeah, I would like to do that in the future.
“That’s why I’m doing all these things, to prepare a bit, get a bit of experience.
“So you don’t need to do that in the future.”
Lap time secondary to fun for Verstappen
The official lap record around the track is a 7:49.5s, so if the lap time is believed to be true, then Verstappen went nearly three seconds quicker than anyone during a test run.
But the F1 driver insisted that the experience was not about showing off and instead preparing for a potential attempt at the endurance race in the future.
“For me, I’m not there to show that I can break a lap record or whatever record,” he explained.
“I was just having fun and learning the track together with the team, with Emil Frey as well.
“They weren’t there before, so for them also, the dream is to do 24 hours there.
“We just had a good time, getting up to speed.
“We were lucky with the conditions as well; it was really nice and sunny, so that’s great if you can have that.”
Verstappen went on to reveal that he is currently in talks with the commission over a potential racing permit.
Russell keen to try out Nordschleife circuit
Other drivers on the grid saw the amusement in the fake name, whilst George Russell envied his racing colleague as he expressed his intentions to take up more racing outside of F1.
He explained how he has discussed the idea with his Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff.
“We’ve spoken about it numerous times, to be honest, and I’d love to,” Russell said.
“I’d really want to shuffle my schedule around a little bit to allow me to do more driving, because I love driving.
“I did a lot of driving with Nordschleife on iRacing over the winter, and I want to get more involved in things like that.
“But it’s very challenging when you’ve got so much sponsor commitment outside of the racing, the travel, the simulated days, the debriefing with the team.
“It helps when you’ve got your own private jet, so you get to places a little bit quicker.
“But, yeah, definitely we’ll be doing that at some point.”
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