Alex Albon was forced to turn off the Italian Grand Prix while he was in hospital with appendicitis after doctors became concerned with his heart rate. The Williams driver has given a health update after being missing at Monza, declaring himself fit for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Albon was unable to participate in the Grand Prix after his appendix burst on the eve of the race with Mercedes reserve Nyck de Vries coming in to replace him. The Dutchman impressed in the 26-year-old’s absence, finishing the race in an impressive ninth, one of Williams’ best results of the season.
He has now given a health update ahead of the event in Singapore sharing with reporters the feelings he had from the hospital watching De Vries compete last weekend admitting his frustrations as he missed out on a good chance for points.
“I woke up pretty much 30 minutes before the start of the race so I could watch it,” he said. “It was it was frustrating to watch. The heart rate went up a little bit while they were keeping an eye on me and they had to switch it off at some point.”
“Nyck did a really good job obviously. I think we know that once it was going to be a good one but he brought home some points which obviously in the bigger scheme of things it’s very good for the team.”
He suffered respiratory failure following his laparoscopic surgery on the Saturday, meaning he spent the night in intensive care as he was helped to recover. Despite this, he has declared himself fit for the weekend’s race at the Marina Bay Circuit however he harbors personal concerns about the physical toll of the track.
“I feel ready, I feel as fit as I can be,” he said. “We had a good week of training with two weeks almost, and get back to where we are today.”
“Obviously, we were realistic and we know that we’re coming to the most difficult race of the year. So we do have to be mindful of that. But I feel good. No pain.”
Albon also admitted that he was not expecting to return this weekend but medics were impressed by the speed of his recovery allowing him to participate this weekend.
“I don’t think we truthfully had Singapore on the cards but just with the way that the speed is recovering, it was definitely a possible thing,” he explained. “We sat long and hard to think about it.
“I feel like I am ready. Of course, we have to wait until tomorrow to see where it works out because it’s driving around here is a bit of a different beast.
“I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had very good doctors around me, who are in Italy to get me back into a good place. So I feel very fortunate.”
