Max Verstappen discusses health worry as F1 star struggled "to breathe normally"

30 March 2023 , 08:00

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Max Verstappen has opened up on his recent illness battle (Image: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Illness left Max Verstappen feeling like he was "missing a lung" in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the defending Formula 1 champion has admitted.

The Dutchman delayed his journey to Jeddah and missed media day as a result. But he was back in action on the Friday in time for free practice and got through the rest of the race weekend without suffering too much.

But he does feel he was "physically limited" by the after-effects of his illness during that race weekend. Speaking ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen told reporters more about how he was feeling before he raced to second place from 15th on the grid.

"At home I was really ill, like I could barely just walk around and felt like I was just missing a lung," the Red Bull racer explained. "I got to the weekend, really believing that it was gone. Because normally when you get sick, like two, three days after you normally alright, you could just do your workouts.

"But then when I jumped in the car in FP1, even just one performance, I felt like I had to recover for two laps to be able to breathe normally. So yeah, it definitely did affect me throughout the weekend."

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Fortunately for the 25-year-old, he was able to use the free weekend between that race in Jeddah and this next round in Melbourne to recover further. As a result, he now feels in much better shape ahead of the Australian GP.

Verstappen still managed the podium in Jeddah despite his illness (Hassan Ammar/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

He added: "I've been trying to work on it, trying to improve it, and I do think that it has improved a lot. So normally this weekend should be alright. It's quite a tough track in general and when you don't feel well, it hits hard on you."

Even more useful for his recovery will be the three weeks he and the rest of the drivers have off after this weekend. The cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix means the fourth race of the year will instead be held in Baku at the end of April.

Verstappen said: "Well a couple of weeks ago I would say that I was not looking forward to it, so for me now this three weeks is just getting back to like full fitness getting a full programme in. But normally if I just feel well, I think I would also prefer to keep racing.

"It has nothing to do with looking into the car trying to make it faster. I think that's a natural process, but it's weird to have three weeks off, especially that early on in the season."

Daniel Moxon