Max Verstappen provides health update after battling 'awful' illness

Max Verstappen has confirmed he is fully recovered from the illness that plagued him throughout the Dutch Grand Prix, describing his experience as "awful" in the days before and after the race.

The Red Bull driver was visibly under the weather across the entire Zandvoort weekend, battling flu-like symptoms that left him feeling far from his best.

He qualified seventh for his home race and then saw his afternoon end abruptly on the opening lap when he lost control at the banked final corner on a damp track, spinning hard into the barriers and triggering a red flag.

Speaking to media ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Verstappen was asked how he had been feeling in the days after Zandvoort, addressing both the first-lap crash and his illness.

"I felt good in terms of the impact, because it was the SAFER [steel and foam energy reduction] barrier," the Dutchman told media, including RacingNews365.

"So that was the first time that I did that. It actually did its job really well."

'The whole week in Zandvoort was awful'

While the four-time F1 drivers' champion walked away from the crash unscathed, it was the illness that proved far harder to shake off.

The 28-year-old admitted that the bug lingered well beyond the race weekend itself.

The week-long break between the Dutch and Italian rounds afforded Verstappen the time he needed to get back to full fitness.

"But yeah, I was very ill," the 71-time grand prix winner added. "You appreciate it once you're fully healed, like how good it is to feel like that, because the whole week in Zandvoort was awful.

"And even after Zandvoort, for a few days, I was still not good. So it was actually really nice to have that week to recover and feel better again, because it's been a very long time since I felt like that."