Albon reveals hotel PTSD after Monza scare

Williams driver Albon has revealed he requested to change his hotel room for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix having got "PTSD" from his appendicitis ordeal last season.

The Thai-British driver was ruled out of last year's event having been taken ill before Saturday's running, being replaced by Nyck de Vries.

But the procedure to remove his appendix was far from plain sailing - while recovering from the operation, complications saw Albon suffer respiratory failure and he was placed on a ventilator.

Speaking to media including RacingNews365 one year on from his medical scare, Albon said: "I’m staying in the same hotel this year.

“They put me in the same hotel room and I was just laying in bed and I thought to myself: 'This is exactly what happened [last year].'

"I didn't even go to bed [last year], I had this pain coming in. I don’t know if you know what it's supposed to feel like, but it can feel like you're gassy. I didn't know what was going on.

"But [this year] I honestly felt like I had PTSD. I had to ask to change rooms.

"It was a strange time, a frustrating time actually because it was the one time where last year I felt the car was quick enough to score points.

"But you know, Nyck [de Vries] did a great job actually, he did the job for me [in finishing ninth].

"Obviously, the appendix is out now. So it shouldn’t come up again. If it does, there's something wrong!"

Albon backs Williams for strong weekend

Williams showed strong form at the Dutch Grand Prix, performing well at a high-downforce track to the surprise of the Grove-based squad.

The team has long singled out Monza to be one of its more favourable tracks this year due to the car’s strength in a straight line and asked if he expects Williams will be stronger this time around, Albon said: "Relative to last year? Yes, we've just had more competitive car at every track we've been to.

"Obviously coming from Zandvoort especially, the expectations are quite high from everyone this weekend but we have to be realistic.

"I think Spa was a bit of a wake-up call for us. We were not as quick as we thought we would be on a track that's quite similar to here.

"So let's not speak too much until FP1 and we can start to figure out where the car is at and our pace."