routing when using WAN virtual IP's

[MoonbeamFrame]

WAN

xxx.xxx.xxx.248/29 public address range
xxx.xxx.xxx.249 - Firewall external address
xxx.xxx.xxx.250 - Firewall virtual IP
xxx.xxx.xxx.251 - Firewall virtual IP
xxx.xxx.xxx.252 - Firewall virtual IP
xxx.xxx.xxx.253 - Firewall virtual IP

xxx.xxx.xxx.254 - Gateway

LAN

yyy.yyy.yyy.1 - Firewall internal address
yyy.yyy.yyy.50 - Server internal address

NAT Outbound for yyy.yyy.yyy.50 to xxx.xxx.xxx.253

Running a trace route from yyy.yyy.yyy.50 to a distant server I see the initial hops as:

yyy.yyy.yyy.1
xxx.xxx.xxx.254
xxx.xxx.xxx.253
Then to the upstream ISP IP's

I'm surprised that the packets route to the gateway IP then to the virtual IP.

Is this expected or might I have miss-configured something?

Thanks