"Franz Hermann showing people once again why he is better than Max Verstappen": Fans reacts to F1's official account trolling the Red Bull driver

After Max Verstappen raced under the alias 'Franz Hermann' at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the motorsport world soon joined in to make some comments in jest about how Hermann would beat Verstappen in a real race. After FP1 was over at the Emilia Romagna race weekend, F1 fans continued making jokes on the Verstappen-Hermann matter.

After the birth of his daughter, the motorsport world expected the Red Bull driver to stay at his home with his newborn and partner. However, Verstappen shocked everyone by testing a Ferrari GT3 car at Nurburgring in the break between Miami and Imola as the information about his presence at the fabled German track trundled to every fan.

Max Verstappen had tried to stay hidden by driving under the pseudonym 'Franz Hermann,' but his Verstappen helmet and Red Bull suit were a dead giveaway for many to spot him. This led fans to make several comments around the whole saga, and even F1 joined in as they posted the FP1 classification at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the Dutchman's name being replaced by his Nurburgring alias:

Subsequently, fans started making sarcastic comments while comparing Max and Franz:

"Franz showing people once again why he is better than Max."

"Franz Hermann will be world Champion someday, mark my tweet," one fan wrote.

"Hermann lucky to not have to drive against Verstappen," another fan shared how Franz Hermann should be relieved that he did not have to battle Max Verstappen.

Meanwhile, other fans enjoyed F1 joining in on the joke:

"There's no way that Formula 1 is actually calling him Franz Hermann LMAO," one netizen wrote.

"Love that they leaned into this," another netizen wrote.

"This is awesome the official page listed him as Franz!" a third fan wrote.

Max Verstappen's visit to the Nurburgring was not a common occurrence, and speculation regarding him breaking the lap record soon broke out.

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Max Verstappen revealed the details about his visit to the Nurburgring

Max Verstappen at the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna - Source: Getty

While Verstappen had never driven around the Green Hell in real life, his first encounter with the racetrack had soared in the headlines. The 27-year-old was speculated to have broken the previous GT3 lap record, but no concrete information was available at the moment.

But, this changed as the reigning world champion was asked about his visit and whether he had broken the lap record, to which Verstappen admitted and said (via Formula 1):

"It was, yeah. But for me 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."

On the other hand, Max Verstappen sits third in the interim F1 drivers' standings and trails Oscar Piastri by 32 points.