After the Monza illness, Albon needs the winter to regain full fitness

Alex Albon thinks the winter will be necessary for him to fully recover from respiratory failure and appendicitis that he contracted during the September Monza Formula 1 weekend.

Alex Albon in a file photo (Image: Twitter)
By Mahaksh Chauhan | Nov 29, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

On the Saturday of the Italian Grand Prix, Williams driver Albon became ill and required immediate surgery for appendicitis before complications resulted in respiratory failure. After receiving treatment, he was eventually released a few days later and resumed racing at the Singapore Grand Prix. Albon declared himself “as fit as I can be” and pain-free to compete in Singapore, even though it was one of the most physically demanding races of the year. One week later, he competed in another hard race in Suzuka. When asked by Motorsport.com if he had returned to full fitness since Monza, Albon responded: “I would say [I need the] winter to get to 100%.

“Yes, we did not have the time to workout in order to truly regain that fitness. However, in all honesty, Singapore was difficult, Japan was 75%, and after Japan, I felt okay. After serving as a reserve driver for Red Bull in 2021, Albon made his full-time F1 debut this season with Williams. Albon oversaw the British team’s efforts the whole season. The Anglo-Thai driver made up for its lacklustre performance relative to the teams farther ahead by scoring three of its five top-10 finishes, including runs to ninth in Miami and 10th in Australia with a daring strategy.

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Balance issues

But given how well-suited the FW44 car was to the high-speed layout at Monza, Albon believed that failing to qualify for the race was his biggest opportunity this season. Nyck de Vries, who was running in his place, came in ninth. The biggest opportunity for me to score points, according to Albon, was staying healthy for Monza. “I’m not certain about anything else. I genuinely believe that we have taken advantage of our opportunities to score points. “Sadly, that is where we find ourselves this year. We’ve had a year where everything has gone wonderfully for us and a little bit of luck, which brings us to the points.

“We don’t want it to occur the following year. We want to put in a lot of effort and really address the balance problems we’ve been experiencing this year. If we can do that, I believe that as a team, we are taking advantage of all of our opportunities. That’s great. “I believe that proves we are conducting ourselves properly. We’ll fight for better opportunities more frequently and score more points if we get a better car.