"I had to double check this was actually him": Fans react as Max Verstappen puts Mercedes DTM racer on blast

Fans reacted to Max Verstappen's bold reply to Mercedes DTM driver Maro Engel as he commented on the Dutchman's car setup when he drove around the Nurburgring earlier. However, Verstappen falsified his claims, asking him not to spread false information.

Versatppen is known for his interest in touring cars. He spends hours behind the wheel of his simulator, participating in online league races and defeating the competition with a dominating lead. Earlier last week, he had the opportunity to take a GT3 car for a test drive around the Nurburgring in real life.

He used Franz Hermann as his pseudonym to participate in the test, and put in impressive laptimes. Reacting to the same, Maro Engel made a post on social media, claiming that the car that Hermann (Verstappen) piloted was running a DTM spec setup, modifying the weight and power delivery.

"To the topic of the moment. Few facts to Franz Hermann GT3 Nordschleife Test: car was run in DTM spec BoP (less weight, more power, lower ride height than NLS BoP). Laptime: 7:48 Still impressive for a first visit to the green hell. Would be cool to see Franz compete!"

However, Max Verstappen was quick to respond. Replying to Engel's X post, he mentioned that this information was false, further stating that he wouldn't join the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie track day with the wrong Balance of Performance of the car.

"False. Don‘t spread things when you don’t know how the car was setup and our engine settings. Why would I join a NLS track day with the wrong BOP. Have a good one tomorrow," Verstappen replied.

His reply gained quite some traction on social media. Fans backed him for his bold reply to the Mercedes DTM driver, like this user wrote:

"Nahhhh I had to double check this was actually him, bro needs to clap back more often."

"cook that fraud," another fan commented.

"COOK HIM GOAT 😭❤️," a comment read.

Considering that Max Verstappen's reply gained more likes than the original post, some of the fans also mentioned that the driver was in his "villain era" after delivering the "ratio" with his comment.

"Max is in his villain era," a fan wrote.

"Max with the killer ratio!" Another comment read.

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DTM boss hints at Max Verstappen's participation in the series

At the moment, Max Verstappen is chasing his fifth Formula 1 World Championship, however, he has managed to prove his competence on the grid in the past seasons with his dominating drive.

The possibility of his move to another racing series is not a new speculation on the Paddock, given his popularity in motorsports across the world. Moreover, DTM boss Thomas Voss recently mentioned that he would welcome the Dutchman to the series in the future. He also mentioned that he has known Verstappen for over a decade.

"Max Verstappen is of course very welcome in the DTM," he told Motorsport Total (via RN365). "Max is Max. I got to know him when I was still in Oschersleben and he drove a Formula season with Timo Rumpfkeil [in 2013]. He was already very strong-willed back then."

"I'm completely convinced: if he gets into a GT3 car, he'll master it in no time. I think he's fast in everything, and he's a natural when it comes to driving. He just has so much fun driving everything he gets his hands on."

It is currently tough to confirm if Verstappen would step out of F1 and step into the world of touring cars anytime in the future. However, his impressive run at the Nurburgring in the GT3 car does prove that he would manage to remain competitive in those series as well.