Max Verstappen usurped as new Franz Hermann emerges in undercover mission

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen captured the imagination earlier this year when he tested GT machinery at the Nurburgring under the pseudonym Franz Hermann.

And Mercedes star Andrea Kimi Antonelli has come the latest driver to launch an undercover mission, making a surprise appearance at the Daytona Motorsport karting circuit in Milton Keynes on Saturday.

Move over Max Verstappen as ‘Henry Shovlin’ emerges

Antonelli enjoyed an impressive debut season in F1 2025 after being signed as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes.

The teenager took just six rounds to claim a first F1 pole position, qualifying first for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, before collecting a maiden podium finish in Canada a few weeks later.

After a character-building mid-season spell, Antonelli re-emerged to add two more podium finishes to his tally, claiming a career-best second-place finish in Brazil and recovering from 17th on the grid to an eventual third in Las Vegas.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli vs George Russell: Mercedes head-to-head scores for F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Antonelli was back on track on the first Saturday of F1’s winter break, racing at the Daytona karting circuit in the United Kingdom.

The Italian appeared at the track under the name ‘Henry Shovlin’, an apparent reference to long-serving Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.

In a post to social media, Daytona Motorsport revealed that Antonelli set the fastest lap of the race, going three seconds faster than any other driver in wet conditions.

His quickest lap of 1:24.5 was more than five seconds faster than the time Alex Albon, the Williams driver, managed in a previous appearance at the same circuit.

The post was accompanied by an image of Antonelli posing beside a leaderboard packed with other famous names to have raced at the venue, including fellow F1 drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, as well as Cadillac F1 2026 signing Sergio Perez.

Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and former England cricket captain Sir Alastair Cook are among the other big names to have appeared at the circuit.

The post by Daytona Motorsport read: “This afternoon, a quiet young guy calling himself ‘Henry Shovlin’ showed up for a SODI D40 at Daytona Milton Keynes.

“Cap low. No fuss. Sat in the corner through the briefing.

“Lights out.

“Post-race, helmets come off in the pit lane…

“And the grid slowly realises who they’ve been racing as Kimi Antonelli steps back into the pavilion.

“Fastest lap of the race by three seconds in the wet.

“A 1:24.5, over five seconds quicker than Alex Albon.

“Just another afternoon at Daytona.

“Never a dull day.”

Antonelli ended his rookie season in seventh place in the drivers’ standings, trailing Mercedes teammate George Russell by 169 points.

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