Albon free to secure Toro Rosso deal

A major hurdle between Toro Rosso signing Alexander Albon to partner Daniil Kvyat in 209 has been cleared after the Thai-British driver was released from his contract to drive for Nissan in Formula E. Former Red Bull junior Albon is clear to return to the fold, having secured a top-three finish in Formula 2 this year.

Albon is set to replace Brendon Hartley after the Kiwi failed to impress in his first full F1 season.

Nissan confirmed Albon as a driver for their FE team back in September, when the likes of Pascal Wehrlein and Mick Schumacher were also being linked to the Red Bull junior squad.

It was reported that Red Bull may have had to pay compensation to Nissan in order to secure Albon's release, but Helmut Marko suggested over the Abu Dhabi GP weekend that was not the case.

A Nissan statement read: "Alex Albon will not drive for Nissan e.dams in its debut season in the ABB FIA Formula E championship. Nissan e.dams and Albon have agreed to part ways with Albon exiting his contract to take up a different opportunity in motorsport."

It is unclear for now when Albon will make is Toro Rosso debut, with Kvyat and Sean Geleal scheduled to take part in this week's post-season 2019 tyre test in Abu Dhabi.

Albon's arrival will give Toro Rosso's line-up a strange look with both he and Kvyat having previously been cut from the Red Bull programme.

Kvyat was dropped last year after suffering a dismal second stint at Toro Rosso following demotion from Red Bull to make way for Max Verstappen, while Albon was dropped as a teenager.

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