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.
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. "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."
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."