Alex: “They have put me in the same hotel room!”

Alex Albon was our representative at the FIA pre-race press conference on Thursday, ahead of the final European grand prix of the season.

Our number 23 shared his feelings on returning to Monza a year on from being forced to sit out the race, alongside general discussions ahead of taking to the Temple of Speed.

Here’s what Alex had to say in front of the media.

I mean, I was staying in the same hotel this year, and they have put me in the same hotel room!

I was just laying in bed and I thought to myself this is exactly what happened and I woke up… well, I didn't go to bed and I got this pain coming.

I don't know if you know what it's supposed to feel like but it can feel like you're gassy. So you spend a lot of time like (holds stomach), I didn't know what was going on but I honestly felt like I had PTSD!

I had to ask to change room. So yeah, it is interesting.

Obviously, 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, he did the job for me. Thinking about it, obviously the appendix is out now so it shouldn't come up again. If it does, there's something wrong!

Relative to last year, yes, I do think so. Well, we've just had a more competitive car at every track we've been to. But let's see.

Obviously, coming from Zandvoort, especially, I think expectations are quite high from everyone for 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 and our pace.

James is great. Obviously, he's come from Mercedes, he most probably was part of Lewis's contract back in the day, but he's come along, he's got a lot of experience coming from Mercedes.

I've said it a few times now but I think honestly, the best of James is possibly still to come.

I think that a lot of the stuff that we're doing right now is short term goals that we've been able to do obviously, things like tyres or whatever strategy he has prior knowledge, quick knowledge that you can get overnight, almost.

But the real big things, the big ticket items are going to come next year, the year after that, and that's what I'm excited to see.

I'm really excited to see what direction he's going to take the team. Speaking to him, he obviously has a close connection with drivers.

And he does do a bit of driving himself so he gets this, he understands the language that we talk.

We talk about it a lot at Williams, but we do have some characteristic problems in our car and hopefully if we can get them out of the way, I think we're going to make a good step.

It shows at tracks like Zandvoort, when we don't have so many limited corners, we can be right up there. So let's see.

I think to be able to be in Formula 1 until you're 40, realistically you have to be a generational talent.

We would all like to be 40 and still be in Formula 1, but it doesn't normally turn out like that.

That's our goal, I'm sure we all would love to keep doing what we're doing. I'm sure you guys [the press] know, being on the road for so long and doing it, it takes a toll on you.