Verstappen reveals: 'I was so sick it felt like I was missing a lung'

Because the China Grand Prix has fallen away from the schedule, there is a long break on the calendar after this weekend. The next race is still a month away. For Verstappen, this break comes at a welcome time. The stomach flu the two-time world champion was suffering from prior to the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix turned out to be a bit more severe than initially thought.

"I got really ill and just been struggling a bit since that time," Verstappen explained. "Especially last race out. So for me now, the three weeks it's just getting back to like full fitness getting a full program in. So in a way, it's probably nice now, but normally if you just feel well I would also prefer to to keep racing."

Verstappen's illness was quite intense

The race weekend in Saudi Arabia hit Verstappen much harder than could be seen from a distance. "At home I was really ill, like I could barely just walk around and I felt like I was just missing a lung. And yeah, I got to the weekend really believing that it was gone because normally when you get sick, like two, three days after you're normally alright. 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. 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 out in the car. But since then I've been trying to work on it, so this weekend should be alright."