Max Verstappen tells all on ‘Franz Hermann’ origin and lap record claim

Max Verstappen explained how the ‘Franz Hermann’ alter-ego impetus came from his GT3 car operator, but the final name was all on him.

Verstappen appeared under the name during a GT3 test at the Nurburgring, with the sequel coming at Spa-Francorchamps, the former appearance sparking reports of a new lap record from Verstappen, who revealed his times to confirm that.

Max Verstappen did set new lap record as ‘Franz Hermann’

Verstappen put a Ferrari 296 GT3 car through its paces at the Nurburgring in a test back in May, the Red Bull driver having entered his team – Verstappen.com Racing – into the endurance rounds of the GT World Challenge Europe series for 2025, their car operated by the Emil Frey Racing outfit.

However, Verstappen did not compete under his name in the test. Instead, he headed into action under a ‘Franz Hermann’ alias, which even opened up new merchandising opportunities for the reigning four-time World Champion.

But, how exactly did this alter-ego come about? Verstappen explained when he spoke with presenter Chris Harris, ahead of the duo getting to grips with the new Ford Mustang GTD.

“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.'”

Already regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers of all-time aged just 27, it was said that Verstappen had broken the lap record for a GT3 car around the VLN configuration, which combines the iconic Nordschleife and the Nürburgring F1 circuit.

A lap of 7:49.578s was the previous record, and Verstappen did indeed beat it.

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“So first lap out was a 7:56 on the VLN layout,” he said. “I think a few weeks before that, the pole was a 7:51.

“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, 7:54. 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 7:48. 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.”

Verstappen is facing a uphill challenge to make it five World titles in a row in F1 2025, the gap to Championship leader Oscar Piastri 81 points with 11 rounds to go.

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