Alex Albon recounts being 90 seconds away from heart failure at Monza

Alex Albon

Albon recounts being 90 seconds away from heart failure at Monza

'I couldn't breathe properly and I was coughing up a lot of blood'

Janice Kusters

Sunday 20 August 2023 15:12 Updated: 18:59

The 2022 Monza race offered possibilities for Williams, especially for Alex Albon, yet his burst appendicitis dashed hopes of competing. Albon now discloses how dire the situation truly was, as during surgery he teetered on the edge of heart failure.

The weekend commenced with Friday being particularly competitive for Williams, setting the stage for what could have been a significant points haul for Albon. Which was something the team was in dire need of, after having only collected four points in the previous 15 races.

Trouble began early Saturday morning, as the Thai driver recounted, "I woke up on Saturday morning, at 1 am, had a lot of pain in my stomach. I was like...what? What have I eaten?"

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The London-born driver was transferred to the hospital, where it was uncovered that his appendix had burst. The situation escalated rapidly, and he found himself on an operating table soon after. Albon elaborated, "It was a relatively simple operation, but it went horribly wrong."

The complications were dire; his lungs filled with blood, creating a life-threatening scenario.

“At the time I was about a minute and a half away from heart failure,” he admitted. Thankfully the Williams driver pulled through and was able to watch the race from his hospital bed.

From Monza setback to Singapore comeback

Upon witnessing the Sunday results following the Monza race, Albon's determination to return was fueled by the success of his replacement Nyck de Vries.

Albon was motivated by results from de Vries

“When I woke up on the Sunday and I saw the results, I was quite driven by the fact that Nyck had a good race. I don't want people to drive my car, I was kicking myself, I was angry at myself, and I just wanted to get back in my car, and show people what I can do.”

The timeline was tight, with a mere three weeks until the next race – Singapore, renowned for being the most physically demanding circuit of the year. Alongside his trainer Patrick, Albon embarked on a rigorous regimen aimed at rebuilding his physical strength.

“We locked ourselves in an Airbnb in London. We started off on the first week, I pretty much couldn't move, I couldn't walk, I couldn't cycle. We were just doing very simple ab exercises to try and get my body moving.”

“My lungs were my biggest problem - because I couldn't breathe properly and I was coughing up a lot of blood.”

To remedy that, the driver and his trainer ‘threw everything at it,’ including oxygen chambers, ice therapy, breathing tubes, and targeted lung strengthening exercises.

In retrospect, Albon acknowledges that he had the option to wait and skip the Singapore race, allowing more time for recovery, but it was passion and determination that drove him to push forward. “It sounds almost obsessive, and it is, it's what I live for, it's what I've dreamed about since I was 6 years old so, for me it was just... just what I do!”