Alex Albon return from respiratory failure "audacious" - George Russell

Albon, Russell, Williams, Mercedes, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Singapore Grand Prix

Albon return from respiratory failure "audacious" - Russell

Albon suffered respiratory failure in hospital in Italy

Ewan Gale

Saturday 1 October 2022 14:18

George Russell has labelled Alex Albon's return to racing at the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend as "audacious".

Williams driver Albon spent the Italian Grand Prix weekend in hospital after being diagnosed with appendicitis, leading to surgery during which complications arose as he suffered respiratory failure.

Although his life was at risk, Albon recovered and immediately set a goal of returning to action at the Marina Bay Street Circuit despite the venue being the most physically demanding on the F1 calendar.

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Albon emerged from Friday's practice sessions insisting he would continue for the remainder of the weekend, albeit naturally airing a degree of caution.

Russell, close friends with Albon after rising through the junior ranks alongside the Thai-British driver, said: "I was in contact with Alex's family on the Saturday night [of the Italian GP weekend].

"It was looking pretty scary at one point but it was pretty impressive to see how he recovered so quickly following the events that happened.

"The human body is a scary thing. It just goes to show that one minute, everything is fine and the next minute, it changes almost totally out of control.

"It is audacious to come back to the toughest race of the season having just recovered but it shows the determination he has to possibly get something out of the weekend."