Two weeks after the GP of Saudi Arabia, where he made a remarkable comeback from 15th to 2nd place podium finish, Max Verstappen confided that he is still suffering from stomach pain. The double world champion, who arrived a day late in Jeddah, is looking forward to the four week break coming after the Grand Prix in Australia, a race that will surely be tricky with such a big handicap.
Max Verstappen, who suffered from a stomach ache two weeks ago during the Saudi Arabian GP, said he was not yet fully recovered before the Australian GP. The 25-year-old Dutchman told a press conference on Thursday that he felt so bad before leaving for Jeddah that he could ” barely walk “.
“I could barely walk…”
” At home, I was really, really sick and I could barely walk. When I arrived (in Jeddah ), I thought it was behind me… but as soon as I got in the car for the first session free practice, after just one lap I felt like I needed two laps just to be able to breathe normally ,” Verstappen said.
“So yeah, that bothered me the whole weekend. is one of the first races where I felt I was physically limited and it was very frustrating .”
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A welcome break coming
Even if he feels better, the Red Bull driver now sees with a good eye the four-week break that will take place after the Australian GP:
“Two weeks ago, I was not looking forward to it [qualifying], but then I was very sick and these weeks should allow me to recover and regain 100% of my abilities.”
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Max Verstappen is the favourite for the third Grand Prix of the season which will be contested on Sunday in Melbourne at the Albert Park circuit. The double world champion indeed flew over the first race in Bahrain and made a superb comeback from fifteenth to second place two weeks ago in Jeddah, where his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez won.
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Karun Chandhok on whether there is any tension between Russell and Hamilton ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ANoqWZPOtY
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 30, 2023
