Max Verstappen reveals he was ‘physically limited’ at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - ‘Felt like I was missing a lung’

Max Verstappen has revealed he felt like he was “missing a lung” during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, but “should be alright” ahead of this week’s race in Melbourne. Verstappen missed the pre-race media duties in Jeddah two weeks ago due to a stomach bug but appeared to have no significant issues in the car as he topped all three practice sessions.

Ad The Red Bull driver had a drivetrain issue in qualifying which meant he started from 15th, but fought his way back to second place behind team-mate Sergio Perez. Australian Grand Prix'We need better results here' — Verstappen knows Red Bull can improve at MelbourneAN HOUR AGO “I refused to believe it myself for a long time because at home I was really ill, like I could barely just walk around and I felt like I was missing a lung,” Verstappen told the press.

“I got to the weekend really believing that it was gone, because normally when you get sick, two or three days after you are normally alright, you can just do your workouts. 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 it definitely did affect me throughout the weekend, which I didn't like, because it was one of the first races where I Just felt like I was physically limited and that’s really frustrating when you're out in the car.” Verstappen leads the championship by one point after setting the fastest lap of the race in Jeddah, having fought for the extra point against Perez. The Dutchman hinted that he should be back to normal this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, an event he has not won.

“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