Breaking news
Formula 1
Albon emerges as favourite for Hartley's Toro Rosso seat
Alexander Albon has emerged as favourite to replace Brendon Hartley and partner Daniil Kvyat at Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula 1 in 2019.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Oct 16, 2018, 3:27 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
However, the Anglo-Thai racer first has to get out of his existing deal to contest the 2018-19 Formula E season with Nissan.
It’s understood that Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko is negotiating with Nissan for the release of the 22-year-old, and that it will become clear in the next few days whether he has been successful.
Nissan is understood to be extremely frustrated with potentially losing a driver to whom it had made an early commitment, and it remains to be seen how the discussions will unfold.
Albon was scheduled to test for Nissan in Valencia this week, alongside teammate Sebastian Buemi, but he did not appear on track on Tuesday.
Albon made the decision to take up the Formula E route around the time of the Hungarian GP when it appeared that no F1 opportunities would be forthcoming. He thus signed a multi-year deal with Nissan, whose Formula E team is run by DAMS - the squad for which he has won four F2 races in 2018.
However, subsequent movements in the driver market such as Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to join Renault – which led to Pierre Gasly’s promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing – left the Faenza team short of options.
Albon was backed by Red Bull in karting and Formula Renault, but was dropped after 2012. However, since then the Anglo-Thai racer - who finished runner-up to Charles Leclerc in GP3 in 2016 - has been rehabilitated in the eyes of Marko.
If talks are successful and the move to F1 is completed, Albon will join fellow F2 frontrunners George Russell and Lando Norris in stepping straight into F1 race seats, while Hartley - who was brought back into the Red Bull fold midway through 2017 - will be left without a drive.
Brendon Hartley, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Force India creditors already paid by Stroll
Next article De Ferran suppressing "anger" amid McLaren results
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 10, 2024
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Alex Albon
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 d
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
18 d
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
More from
Racing Bulls
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
Formula 1 12 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Tsolov named Red Bull, Racing Bulls reserve driver after missing out on 2027 F1 race seat
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 55 min
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
8 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe