When Max Verstappen walked into the paddock forward of the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he wasn’t simply Purple Bull Racing’s star driver — he was additionally “Franz Hermann,” his now viral alter ego.
After photographs of Verstappen testing on the Nurburgring earlier within the week surfaced on-line, eagle-eyed followers observed one thing odd: he was registered underneath the pseudonym Franz Hermann, supposedly to maintain the session personal.
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However the secrecy didn’t final lengthy. The disguise backfired when images from the GT take a look at confirmed his actual identify and staff branding on the automobile — sparking a flood of memes and reactions on-line.
By Friday’s Free Follow 1 session at Imola GP, the joke had gone mainstream. Formulation 1’s official broadcast listed Verstappen as “Franz Hermann,” a deliberate nod to the viral second.
Max Verstappen after successful the pole throughout qualifying for the Miami GP.Peter Casey-Imagn Photos
It was a uncommon and cheeky transfer from F1 — playfully acknowledging the web buzz and including gas to the hearth.
Verstappen, unfazed, stored the gag going when requested if he was Max or Franz: “Franz is definitely having plenty of contract affords for the time being… he’s negotiating phrases for the Nordschleife.”
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For followers, it’s simply one other reminder of how Verstappen manages to dominate each on the monitor — and now, apparently, within the artwork of viral pseudonyms.
