F1 Champ Max Verstappen Reveals He Has Battled Vision Issues Since Massive 2021 Crash

One of the defining moments of the 2021 Formula 1 season — which famously involved a title battle between Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton — happened during that year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

On the opening lap, Verstappen and Hamilton battled for the lead with Verstappen attempting what was, in hindsight, at best an overly ambitious move around the outside of Copse, one of the fastest corners on the circuit.

However, he and Hamilton made contact and sent him hard into the barrier.

Verstappen got out of the car under his own power but still went to the hospital.

However, now — three years later — he revealed that the crash has left him battling vision problems.

Verstappen did an interview on Red Bull's German website in which he discussed some of the biggest wins of his career. One of these was the 2021 United States Grand Prix which came a few months after Silverstone and culminated with a thrilling late-race battle between Hamilton and Verstappen.

"Since my Silverstone crash, I've been struggling with visibility problems, especially on undulating courses or those with lots of advertising boards along the side of the track," the Dutchman explained."In this race, I wasn't just battling against Lewis, but also against blurry images."

Well, Circuit of the America fits the bill for "undulating."

Verstappen got the job done, and that win was pivotal in winning his first of three straight championships.

"It was like driving a speedboat at 300 km/h! I've never told you this before, but for a few laps it was so bad that I seriously considered turning the car off," he explained. "The only thing that helped was concentrating on my breathing while Lewis was breathing down my neck. An important victory that I desperately needed in the fight for the World Championship."

Think about that for a second. One of the most dominant drivers in Formula 1 history says he has been having trouble seeing clearly.

I have bad eyesight. My job is to write.

He has bad eyesight. His job is to drive a race car at 200 miles per hour.

That's insane, and not only is he doing it, but he's doing it so well that he's on pace for a fourth-straight championship.

Hopefully, those issues are better these days, but this new info makes Vertappen's run over the last few years even more impressive.