Man who rents out cars to drive the Nürburgring was left stunned with how fast driver was before shock discovery of his identity

As a ‘mystery driver’ set unthinkable lap times around the Nürburgring, the Ringfreaks dealer who rented him the BMW E90 330i recalls being left stunned at the discovery of his identity.

Many famous drivers have taken to the famous Nürburgring circuit to put themselves to the ultimate driving test.

While it’s been discarded from the Formula 1 circuit after Niki Lauda’s crash, the German track has been updated for other forms of racing and hosts some seriously speedy sports cars every day.

But after shrouding his identity in the post-pandemic mask-donning era, one mystery driver with F1 races under his belt blew all records away in Ringfreaks’ BMW E90 330i.

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Nürburgring car rental owner reveals how a mystery driver smashed his records

Typically, Formula 1 racers steer clear of the famed Nürburgring, leaving that to the rally drivers who operate in track-ready supercars.

But over the years, some have used aliases and disguises to go unnoticed out of respect for the circuit and sponsors, rather than regulations – such as Max Verstappen did earlier this year.

One of these F1 stars once managed to use his downtime to good use and give the track a go; only the rental garage Ringfreaks had no idea who he was.

Recalling the story on VINwiki, Ringfreaks owner Ray Francis detailed how a McLaren engineer had to accompany a sub-23-year-old man around the track, and that he was stunned at his claim of being able to push 30 seconds faster than anyone before.

Francis explained how the current record in a BMW E90 330i was set by a Belgian rally champion and endurance racer, who posted a time of around eight minutes.

However, despite having to hold back amid yellow flags, this mystery driver managed to beat it, and still claimed that he could go quicker.

Of course, the Ringfreaks rental dealer sees many people post excuses to inflate their ego, but this piqued his interest, and he watched the tape back.

To his surprise, the F1 youngster was clearly blessed.

“I see from the first two, three corners that he’s something different. This is a different type of driving,” Francis said.

With a clear run later in the day, the mystery driver posted a 07:34 run, beating the previous record by half a minute.

“He actually did a 7:34 on his very first lap of the Nürburgring. This is a Formula 1 driver who does his first lap of a track he’s never driven before,” he added.

So, who was behind the wheel?

Mystery driver… reveal yourself!

Well, Francis claimed that he wasn’t allowed to reveal the name of the driver behind the wheel, as brand rules typically forbid drivers from promoting other cars, and this racer wasn’t ‘allowed’ to be spotted in a BMW E90 330i.

However, he did leave some clues. The racer was joined by a McLaren engineer friend in 2021, was under the age of 2023, and competed in F1.

Oh, and the thumbnail of the video depicts a not-so-pixelated recent Formula 1 world champion…

As to whether it was the suspected mystery driver or another friend of McLaren, we’ll likely never find out.

But what is for sure is that F1 drivers continue to show why they are the best in the business, no matter what type of vehicle they get behind.

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