- Max Verstappen has spoken out about his illness before the Saudi Arabian Grand
- He took a day off to rest and arrived in Jeddah late thinking he was all fine
- However, he experienced breathing difficulties
Moments before heading out for the Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has spoken out about his illness before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah.
The two-time world champion said that the first symptoms he had felt like he had no lung and it felt bad medically and psychologically.
Verstappen was in denial at first and could barely walk, thankfully, he was at his residence in Monaco. But he had to race after a day’s off after taking a day off to rest and recover at his Monaco home and made a late arrival in Jeddah for the weekend race.
However, he experienced an episode of difficulty in breathing right from the moment he slid into his car, and it affected his performance.
Max Verstappen with his father Jos Verstappen. Photo/Essentially
“But then when I jumped in the car, in FP1, even just one performance lap 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, which I didn’t like, because it was like one of the first races where I just felt like I was physically limited. And that’s really frustrating when you’re in the car,” Motorsports reports.
Verstappen finished second after his car developed a problem with its drivetrain forcing him to slow down.
With a week’s rest, Verstappen says he gave his body ample time to recover and is optimistic of an exciting Australian Open Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, Verstappen was unhappy with his team after finishing second at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
He urged his team to put in extra effort to ensure increased dependability and trouble-free weekends.
He finished just five seconds behind Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez who finished first in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after qualifying in 15th place on the grid.
After practice, Verstappen appeared to be in a position to rule the weekend after dominating all three sessions. However, a driveshaft issue with his RB19 in Q2 forced him to start last.
Max Verstappen. Photo/SkySports
After weaving his way through the pack in the early going, Verstappen’s mission of returning to the podium eased up courtesy of a Safety Car intervention in the middle of the race.
Verstappen expressed his dissatisfaction with having two straight race weekends that haven’t gone smoothly on his side of the garage.
According to Verstappen, the speed of his car isn’t the only thing he is worried about, but a car in a good state too.
“It’s not only about the pace of the car, we need to make sure that we are reliable without any issues. I mean, my first weekend was not very clean because of the big balance shift from testing to the race weekend, and some other things which were going on in the background,” he told the media in Jeddah.
The Dutch driver maintained that though his overall team performance is good and his team members are happy about it, he isn’t happy on a personal level.
He said that he is not ready for second place which is why Red Bull Oracle team must ensure that the cars are absolutely reliable.
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