Alex Albon admitted "it's going to be tough" to be fit in time for the Singapore Grand Prix after suffering post-surgery complications last weekend.
The British-Thai racer pulled out of the Italian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis last Saturday. He went under the knife at a local hospital that same day, and the surgery was successful.
However, he later suffered a complication which led to respiratory failure. He was re-intubated by doctors and taken to intensive care, where fortunately he made "excellent progress". He was then taken back to a general ward, and allowed to return home on Tuesday.
On Friday morning, Williams told Mirror Sport the racer was "currently at home in Monaco recovering in preparation for the Singapore Grand Prix". Later in the day, Albon took to social media to give an update of his own, but seemed less optimistic about his chances of being on-track at Marina Bay.
"Hey everyone, Alex here. Just thought I'd give a little bit of an update on how I am," he said in a video with his trademark beaming smile. "I feel pretty good. I feel okay. Obviously on Saturday, I had a slight issue, and the doctors did an amazing job. Very grateful that they got me in good health and out of the hospital by Tuesday.
"So I've been in Monaco since then, been starting to walk around and the goal is to be ready for Singapore, which is going to be tough. It's one of the toughest races that we go to, so it's not an easy one but let's aim high, and see what happens.
"Just a quick message to say thank you for the kind messages have been reading them all, as many as I can, and it means a lot. So, thanks. Hopefully see you in Singapore and peace out."
In Albon's absence, Nyck de Vries was drafted in to race at Monza last weekend. And the Dutchman produced an impressive performance on his Formula 1 debut, finishing ninth to record the team's best result of the season so far.
Williams declined to comment when asked if De Vries would be filling in again in Singapore if Albon is unavailable. But the Dutchman would be the logical choice, given he now has race experience in the FW44 and will be keen to impress again after such a strong debut.
