Former F1 driver with COVID-19: "I thought I was going to die"

Of the current drivers five were infected with the coronavirus; Sergio Perez , Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton fell ill during the season, with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris during the winter break. They all thankfully recovered, but it could have been a lot worse.

Not worried about coronavirus

Former Formula One driver Tarso Marques also tested positive for the virus. The Brazilian driver drove three seasons for Minardi between 1996 and 2001. At first, he was not worried about the virus.

"I thought it wasn't that bad," he told Portuguese weekly Caras.

"I was always very healthy, I had good nutrition, I exercised. I thought nothing would happen to me - what I really cared about were my parents."

As good as dead

That all changed when he finally did contract the virus and ended up in the hospital. "Two hours after the diagnosis, I was already short of breath. Another hour later I couldn't breathe," he said.

"Even now I only have thirty percent of my lung capacity. The first three or four days in the hospital were a horror. You're pretty much dead there. It destroys you. I didn't sleep for nine days."

Marques developed one symptom after another. "The virus attacked everything. I thought I was going to die. I even made a will. That's how I stayed for two more days. When I started to get better, I was worried at night that the improvement was a false alarm."