
Verstappen explains Saudi Arabian GP illness - 'I felt like I was just missing a lung'
Verstappen explains Saudi Arabian GP illness - 'I felt like I was just missing a lung'

Max Verstappen felt he was "missing a lung" after falling ill in the leadup to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman finished second in Jeddah to maintain his early championship lead.
This came after his participation in the event had briefly been put in doubt as Red Bull confirmed reports of an illness and that he would arrive at the track a day late.
Details of Verstappen's condition were not shared across the weekend as Red Bull again dominated proceedings.
But speaking ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the reigning champion revealed: "At home, I was really ill.
"I could barely just walk around and felt like I was just missing a lung.
"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.
"It definitely did affect me throughout the weekend, which I didn’t like because it was one of the first races where I felt like I was physically limited.
"That’s really frustrating when you’re out in the car but since then I’ve been trying to work on it, trying to improve it, and I do think that it has improved a lot, so this weekend should be alright."
Verstappen eager for F1 'spring break'
The Australian Grand Prix marks the end of the opening phase of the season with the cancelled Chinese event creating a three-week spring break.
“A couple of weeks ago I would say I wasn’t looking forward to it but I got really ill,” added the Red Bull driver.
“(I've) just been struggling a bit since that time, especially the last race now. So for me, those three weeks are getting back to full fitness, getting a full programme in.
“In a way it’s probably nice now but normally if you just feel well I would prefer to keep racing.”
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F1 Standings

Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
-
Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2023
-
Grand Prix of China 2023
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
-
Miami Grand Prix 2023
-
Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
-
Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
-
AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2023
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2023
-
Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
-
Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2023
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2023
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2023
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
-
Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
-
Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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