Red Bull denies Verstappen collapsed

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Red Bull has played down the severity of Max Verstappen's condition after FP1 at the Malaysian Grand Prix after it was reported he collapsed in the team's garage.

Amid high temperatures on Friday - with the track temperature peaking at 61C - it was reported Verstappen collapsed at the back of the garage following the opening practice session due to the heat and dehydration. However, Red Bull denies the teenager - who turned 19 on Friday - suffered such a severe reaction to the conditions.

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"He didn’t collapse or faint," a Red Bull spokesperson told F1i. "He was just light-headed after jumping out of the car, and took a moment to compose himself."

Verstappen did not appear to be affected within the car, with the Dutch driver taking full part in FP2 in fifth place later the same day, finishing the session in fifth place. Verstappen then delivered another strong performance in final practice, finishing second overall, 0.4s slower than Lewis Hamilton.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is known for being one of the toughest on the calendar from a physical point of view due to the heat and humidity, and this year the race comes two weeks after a similarly challenging race in Singapore.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.