Alex Albon spent a night in intensive care after suffering complications following his appendix surgery in Italy.
The British-Thai racer missed the Italian Grand Prix, with Nyck de Vries filling in for him at Monza. Williams said he had been diagnosed with appendicitis, and would be undergoing surgery to resolve the issue.
That laparoscopic procedure was completed successfully on Saturday lunchtime, but later in the day he suffered a post-op complication. That led to respiratory failure, Williams have revealed, which saw him intubated and taken to intensive care for the best possible treatment.
Fortunately, Albon has since made "excellent progress" and has now been removed from the ventilator. He remains in hospital, though is now on a general ward and should get the green light to return home on Tuesday.
"Alex would like to thank the excellent care and support he has received, including from the nursing, anaesthetic and ICU teams at Osperdale San Gerardo – ASST Monza, the FIA medical team, his Performance Coach Patrick Harding, the Williams Racing team and Dr Luke Bennett from HINTSA Performance," said the Williams statement.
With the Singapore Grand Prix three weeks away, Williams did not make any declaration about his expected fitness for that race. Instead, the team added: "Alex’s full focus is on recovery and preparation ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix later this month."
De Vries was already at Monza, having taken part in FP1 for Aston Martin on Friday. He was asked to step in for Albon, and took part in FP3, qualifying and the race itself.
And on his competitive debut, he impressed by finishing ninth – Williams' best result of the season so far. He was also voted driver of the day, and did no harm whatsoever to his chances of landing a race seat in F1 next year.
That would most likely be with Williams, who are expected to replace Nicholas Latifi at the end of the season. That would see the Dutchman race alongside Albon in 2023 rather than in his place, and give the sleeping giant of a team an exciting lineup going forward.
