Alex Albon will forever remember his 2022 Italian Grand Prix weekend, although for all the wrong reasons.
It was business as usual for the Williams charger when he took to the track on Friday at Monza, but early on Saturday morning Albon woke up to acute pain in his abdomen, an agony that was eventually diagnosed as a case of appendicitis.
As the British-Thai driver was rolled into surgery, Williams called open rookie Nyck de Vries to deputise for its stricken driver, a choice that led to the Dutchman scoring a remarkable ninth-place finish on his F1 debut.
Ahead of his Italian job, Albon had planned to unveil a special Monza lid, illuminated in bright orange and with a picture of himself on top that was a wink to a livery sported by MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi at Mugello back in 2008.
Albon's one-off helmet never saw the light of day, until this Friday when the 26-year-old posted a series of images of the lively headgear on social media as a special Christmas gift to his fans.
