Last week, someone named "Franz Hermann" drew significant attention during a GT3 test at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Behind this alias was none other than four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, who got behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GT3 from Swiss outfit Emil Frey Racing during an official Nurburgring Endurance Series test.
The Red Bull F1 driver collaborates with Emil Frey Racing under the Verstappen.com Racing banner and wanted to get some laps in on the "Green Hell" without attracting crowds of fans to the pit lane in the early morning.
He succeeded in keeping things quiet, but that also meant many quickly forgot that Verstappen wasn’t the only one in the car that day. Chris Lulham, sim racer for Team Redline – Verstappen’s sim racing team – was also present.
He appeared in some photos, though remained anonymous throughout the ordeal. “We shared the car all day,” Lulham said in an interview with Motorsport.com at the GT World Challenge event in Zandvoort.
“I mainly drove in the afternoon – I think I did most of the laps then. It was an incredible experience driving that track for the first time. Nothing can really prepare you for it.
“I’ve done thousands of laps on the simulator and even won the 24-hour sim race there several times, but nothing compares to the real thing.”
Lulham has been competing with Team Redline for several years now, and not without success. The Brit has made a name for himself by winning major sim racing events, which this year earned him a seat in GT3 racing with Verstappen.com Racing.
Though he has some prior experience in karting and motorsport, sim racing was his path to the real racing world.
“It was a strange experience,” Lulham said about his Nurburgring test. “In the afternoon, more people started showing up. I don’t think many of them even realized I was in the car too…”
When it’s pointed out that he was indeed visible in some of the photos, but the focus was mainly on "Franz," Lulham laughs.
“That’s a shame, isn’t it?” he said. “But he was super helpful throughout the day. We had the live onboard feed in the truck, and he pointed out the little lines he had discovered.
“There are over a hundred corners on that track, so plenty of nuances to find. We helped each other with what we learned. It was a very productive day and the car was really fast.”
While Verstappen’s participation attracted most of the attention, the underlying purpose of the test was also a topic of discussion. According to Lulham, both drivers had a similar objective: to log miles on the Nordschleife and support the team.
“It was the first time on the Nordschleife for both of us. And also about building a baseline for the team, as it was the first time the 296 had been run on that track,” Lulham explained.
“We both need to get a permit if we want to race there. That’s still an open question.”
Lulham confirmed that he does aspire to race in the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring. To do that, drivers must go through a permit process. Those aiming to compete in powerful cars like GT3s or Porsche Cups must obtain permit A, which requires drivers to first attend a kind of ‘school’ covering the rules. Next, they must accumulate track time and participate in at least two races of the Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) in slower race cars.
Lulham knows he needs to follow that path to make his dream a reality, which means doing those races in slower machinery. There’s no guarantee he’ll earn the permit this year, though.
“There are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up to make that happen,” he said.
“I need to get that permit in the coming months if I want to race. For Max, it’s a different story. He obviously has very limited time. Honestly, I don’t know what his plans are. Hopefully, we can both race in the NLS by the end of the year.”
Crucial Support
Lulham spent several years karting and was even runner-up in the OKJ Karting Championship in 2017. Since then, he’s raced in Formula 4 and the Radical Cup Championship, but thanks to support from Verstappen.com Racing, he’s now competing at the highest level of GT3 racing – the GT World Challenge Europe – in both sprint and endurance races.
Support from Verstappen.com Racing and Verstappen himself has “been crucial” to this rise through he ranks, he said.
“We had a long winter program that started late last year to prepare me for this season, and I think the results show that,” Lulham said.
“To get into the Ferrari for the first race and immediately qualify on the front row, just two hundredths off pole… That shows what’s possible with the right preparation and the right people behind you.”
Lulham was surprised that he was immediately quick and able to run at the front. During the winter program, he could already track his progress, supported by reference points from team-mate Thierry Vermeulen – son of Max’s manager Raymond Vermeulen – and Verstappen himself.
“I could see my own improvements, so I already knew what I was capable of going into the first races,” Lulham said.
“But being aware of it is one thing – executing under pressure in a race weekend, with limited laps, is another. You’re thrown straight into qualifying, and that might be your first run on a new set of tires. You have to maximize what you’ve got in that moment. Did I expect it? I expected I was capable, but to actually pull it off immediately? Probably not.”
The adventure with Verstappen.com Racing is still in its early stages, but Lulham is very satisfied with the support so far.
“The Verstappen.com Racing family is a big one, with many influential people backing me and my career,” Lulham said.
“You always feel the support, but you also feel the pressure – so it’s a double-edged sword. But it’s been a fantastic start.”
Very Similar
Lulham was surprised by some aspects of transitioning from sim racing to real-world motorsport. Not so much the driving itself, but more the level of aggression on track compared to sim races.
“I expected it to be aggressive, but this level… Of course, you’re racing at the top of international GT competition, so everyone is here to win, fighting for every position.”
He also had to adapt to the many variables in real-world racing.
“In the simulator, you don’t deal with so many variables affecting every moment of the race,” he added.
“That’s probably the biggest thing I had to adjust to. Then there’s the physical side, whereas I was very mentally trained for the sim. I’d say the mental aspects are very similar, as are the techniques used. That’s probably why I could jump in with so much confidence.”
One thing sim racing can’t really teach, according to Lulham, is wheel-to-wheel racing.
“You understand the technique behind it, but actually doing it – putting your body and the car on the line – that’s a whole different story,” Lulham added.
Sim racers are often accused of making reckless moves they wouldn’t dare attempt in real life, knowing the real-world consequences. Still, Lulham thinks GT3 racing has surprised him in this area.
“To be honest, I’d say that the professional level of sim racing is cleaner than the professional level in the real world,” he said.
“You’d expect the opposite, with all the money involved, but that’s not the case.”
It’s become a trend for sim racers to make the leap to real motorsport – and often, they perform well. But does real-world experience feed back into his sim racing?
“It helps in the sense that you work with skilled engineers during real race weekends – people who’ve been in the sport for years,” Lulham said.
“You learn lots of small details you might miss as a sim racer, and you start thinking differently. In terms of lap time, it probably doesn’t help, because the techniques you use in a real car differ. But I’m confident I’ll still be competitive in sim races this year.”
Very Helpful
In the GT World Challenge, Lulham is teamed up with Vermeulen, who has built solid GT3 experience in DTM and GTWC in recent years. They haven’t done many races together yet, but Lulham is happy with the partnership so far.
“He’s very helpful,” he said. “With his years of experience in a GT3 car, he can point out things I wouldn’t have even thought about. In pre-season, there are so many little things – how the Pirelli tires work, how to warm them up, which curbs to use or avoid, which lines to take.
“At first, I wasn’t even aware of some of these, but someone like Thierry sees them and helps me. He’s really guided me well over the past few months toward becoming a professional driver.”
In a GT class where the car is shared, it’s also a big advantage if both drivers are evenly matched and, so far, this is going well for Lulham.
“During pre-season, we were always very close. Sometimes I was faster, sometimes he was. But the gaps were always small,” the Briton said.
“That’s been the case in every race, like the endurance race at Paul Ricard and the sprint at Brands Hatch. You can’t really prepare for experiences like your first races and race starts. So it’s great to have someone like Thierry by your side.”
Together with Vermeulen, Lulham wants to make a big impression in the Gold Cup class of the GT World Challenge. The rookie even believes a top-three finish overall is possible. The pair is currently in 10th, but at Brands Hatch – where they won the Gold Cup – an outright victory didn’t seem far off.
“I’d love to win the Gold Cup in both Sprint and Endurance,” Lulham said of his ambitions.
“That’s the main goal. In Sprint, I don’t see why we couldn’t finish in the top five, top four, or hopefully even top three. Every race has its own challenges, and we’ll have highs and lows – we already have. Long-term, we’re still early in my first season, so I don’t know where this journey will go yet. I can’t say anything for certain, but I’d love to make a career out of this.”
