Tobias Rieper

Only recently known picture of Rieper from a corrupted CCTV recording.

Tobias Rieper is a German racing driver currently competing in MMS F1 Season 5 with Tyrrell.

## **Racing career**

Despite making it into the top class of motorsport, nothing is known about Tobias Rieper's junior career. Rieper first appeared in the F1 paddock when he was due to make his debut with Jordan in Season 3, however he was detained by British authorities due to being suspected to be involved in the assassination of Jonathan Wilheim, media mogul and father of Kyle Wilheim.

Rieper made his debut in F1 with the Larrousse team in Season 4, partnering Argentinian Marcos Aguirre. Rieper finished P17 on debut, just shy of points, however his first points would come at the next round in Jerez, as he finished P15 to grab two points for Larrousse. As the season went on, it became evident that the Larrousse car was a struggling backmarker. Both Rieper and Aguirre still managed to score points throughout the season, Aguirre only scoring points on one occasion with Rieper scoring two more P15 finishes throughout the season. However, it would be Aguirre who ended up ahead of Rieper by two points in the championship that season.

After a seasons' struggle with Larrousse, Season 5 would see Tobias Rieper depart the French outfit and join the highly rated Tyrrell team, replacing now-retired hotshot Giuseppe Stella. Paired with Michael Teller, Rieper and Tyrrell would have their best seasons to date. Tobias scored a P10 on debut with Tyrrell, and would grab the fastest lap for two rounds in a row. While teammate Teller was exceeding expectations by fighting for podiums and wins, Rieper would eventually get in on the action as he grabbed his first ever podium at the Italian Grand Prix, finishing third. Arguably the highlight of Rieper's season would be the Belgian Grand Prix, where a strategic masterclass from Tyrrell saw the German leading the race in the dying moments of the GP. Rieper held off a charging Matthew Falcon and Mihael Valjak to become a race winner in Formula 1.

## **Personal life**

Rieper's whereabouts are completely unknown, though his passport claims that he holds German nationality and born in a small village in Romania. Many suspect that "Tobias Rieper" is an alias, however Rieper has refused to comment.

Tobias Rieper is the only driver who does not consent to images being taken of him on the Formula 1 grid. After signing an agreement with the FIA, it is forbidden to post any images of Rieper online without his knowledge or consent, and the FIA's media team will either fine the person who posted the image or take down the image.

Rieper has claimed that he enjoys hunting in the forest, and usually tweets pictures of his firearm collection. He is also an avid collector, most notably his collection of coins, and rubber ducks.

## **Controversy**

### Celene Lucien "Target down" comment and assassination conspiracy

Shortly after the passing of Celene Lucien in S4, Tobias Rieper would be infamously remembered for posting the phrase "Target down." on social media platform Twitter. This caused the German to receive major backlash online, ultimately ending up in Rieper getting banned from Twitter. He was later unbanned after what Rieper describes as "careful negotiation with the CEO of Twitter".

This caused suspicion by many to think that Rieper could've potentially staged the incident between Conan McGuinness and Celene Lucien to intentionally assassinate Lucien in what looked like an accident. A Larrousse mechanic found a magazine of 9x19 Parabellum ammunition in his overalls shortly before practice on Saturday morning. Rieper, when asked by the one of the mechanics why he was carrying ammunition, responded that he has an interest in "target practice". Word eventually got out to the media, and Rieper commented that it "was nothing but a misunderstanding from both parts", and that the situation had been "taken care of".

### Jonathan Wilheim assassination conspiracy

Due to make his debut with Jordan in Season 3, replacing the disqualified Nick Tander, Rieper was detained during the S3 Mexican Grand Prix by Interpol and sent to the United Kingdom to be trialed for the murder of Jonathan Wilheim. The MI6 had previously connected Rieper with Wilheim, and he was one of the "main suspect" according to MI6 agency executive Thomas Richards. The trial would go on for about two months, with Rieper subsequently losing his F1 drive to Turmelo Ntungwana. Eventually, charges were dropped against Tobias due to a lack of evidence for him being the main culprit of the assassination, and eventually the case would be closed by the MI6.

### Season 4 San Marino Grand Prix semtex explosive incident

Rieper was involved in yet another incident during Season 4, when he walked into the paddock holding a proximity Semtex explosive on Friday morning. Rieper was quickly detained on site and taken to a local police station and questioned about the explosive. Information about the incident is scarce, but in an interview, Rieper told that he was "let go without any consequences". Rieper would not be seen with the explosive again.