Ricciardo may have lost his F1 seat last year, but his “Frank Hermann” post proves his online game is still championship material.

Max Verstappen has opened up on why he chose to run under the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’ during his recent record-breaking

Max Verstappen ran at the Nordschleife under a pseudonym, Franz Hermann. Former teammate of the Dutchman at Red Bull Racing, Daniel Ricciardo, has upped the ante and given Franz a brother, Frank Hermann.

Chris Lulham is racing for Verstappen.com Racing in this year's GT World Challenge and Motorsport.com caught up with the British driver to talk in detail about his work with Max Verstappen and Thierry

Eagle-eyed Formula 1 fans would have noticed that four-time world champion Max Verstappen was missing from the timing sheets in an official social media post from the F1 account. Instead, Verstappen was replaced by a 'Franz Hermann', who was making his 'debut' in Imola Grand Prix practice, finishing up in seventh.

"Franz Hermann" took to the track at the Nordschleife in a Ferrari 296 GT3 and it quickly transpired that the occupant of the car was the four-time world champion. Verstappen used a fake name, explaining that he and organizers decided to “make it as German [sounding] as we can” to ensure he wasn’t on the entry list for the GT3 test.

Max Verstappen went undercover as “Franz Hermann” during a secret Ferrari test — but fans exposed him in seconds.

Max Verstappen took part in a GT3 test at the Nurburgring using a pseudonym as he went around in a Ferrari 296. While some F1 drivers like to spend their time off as far away from the track as possible, racing nut Verstappen often does extracurricular activities, whether that be virtual or in real life.

Max Verstappen's run at the Nordschleife was the talk of the paddock at Imola, and now the Dutchman has made sure his pseudonym is not soon forgotten.