Albon leaves Nissan e.dams

Alexander Albon has left Nissan e.dams to take up a ‘different opportunity in motorsport’ after a stellar FIA Formula 2 campaign.

It is thought he will be heading to Formula 1 and the Toro Rosso-Honda team, where a seat is available.

His replacement will be announced at the Tokyo Motorsport Show on Friday, November 30 by Nissan.

Oliver Rowland tested for the team on the final day of pre-season testing after Albon was unable to test, with the Japanese manufacturer only running Sebastien Buemi for the first two days of testing.

Albon had been testing the car in private test days at the Calafat circuit but did not take part in the official pre-season test in Valencia.

Albon had previously been a Red Bull junior but was dropped at the end of the 2012 season.

Despite losing major backing, Albon had reached the highest junior formula under F1, competing in F2 in 2018.

Signed on a race-by-race basis to start with, Albon secured a seat for the whole season and finished third behind Lando Norris and champion George Russell, with Norris and Russell securing seats at McLaren and Williams respectively.

A seat opened up at Toro Rosso in F1 after a turbulent driver market ‘silly season’, starting with Daniel Ricciardo going to Renault.

Although one seat has gone to Daniil Kvyat, the second seat is still available with incumbent Brendon Hartley not certain of his future.