Toyota has denied Sebastien Buemi the chance to race the Saturday New York ePrix next weekend, which means the championship leader will miss both races.

The Renault e.dams driver was hoping to compete in practice on Friday for the World Endurance Championship at the Nurburgring and then fly over to New York to compete in the ePrix on Saturday and then travel back to race in Germany on Sunday.

Sources close to Formula E Zone confirmed that there had been long discussions about the possibility of Buemi racing in New York, but Toyota decided that it was too risky to allow him to race.

Buemi only needed to complete five laps in practice to qualify for the race on Sunday. The Swiss driver was eager to compete in both races despite having to travel across the Atlantic twice over the weekend.

The French team have been considering replacements for Buemi in New York, but have yet to announce a driver as they were hoping to have Buemi for at least one of the two New York ePrix’s.

Buemi currently leads the championship by 32 points from Lucas Di Grassi, but that lead could be significantly reduced over even overturned as the sport enters the final round of the season in Montreal.