The story behind Verstappen’s “really German” Franz Hermann alias revealed

Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has discussed his pseudonym "Franz Hermann", which he chose for a GT3 test at the Nurburgring earlier this year. Revealing the story that led up to him choosing this name, he talked to motoring journalist Chris Harris about the viral moment.

The name came as a suggestion from the Emil Frey team, partnered with Verstappen.com Racing, which believed privacy would be a concern.

"The team, Emil Frey, that we have the GT3 car with, they were like, 'Well Max, you can drive under a fake name, do you have any recommendations?' So I was like, 'You know what, let's make it really German. Franz Hermann. That sounds good,'" Verstappen revealed.

“So first lap out was a 7m56s on the VLN layout,” he said. “I think a few weeks before that, the pole was a 7m51s. And of course, we just run it with a full tank, right, because I wanted to do more laps in a row.

"So then, second lap, 7m54s. Then I boxed, I let my sim driver do a run. Then we went back out with me, with a new set of tyres, and we did a 7m48s. So this was good.

"The car was also really nice to drive, but I felt comfortable just because I did already like thousands of laps on the simulator.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Using a fake name allowed the Dutchman to avoid being spotted on the entry list. 

"Because then you're not on the entry list. Otherwise people woke up at 8am knowing that my name is on it," the Dutch driver explained to media ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix earlier this year. 

While the driver realised his cover would soon be blown, the little time he had without being swarmed by fans and photographers allowed him to focus on the job at hand. According to reports, he did a rather good job of it. 

Driving the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 car, the Red Bull ace broke the lap record set by Norwegian racer Christian Krognes in an NLS GT3.

“I was [faster]," Verstappen confirmed. "But I’m not there to show that I can break a lap record or whatever record. I was just having fun and learning the track together with the team.”