Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso is leaving Ferrari after the final race of the season and will be replaced by four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.
The 33-year-old Spanish driver had said earlier this season that his future was elsewhere, likely at McLaren. Moments after Ferrari announced Alonso's departure on Thursday, the Italian team said Vettel will take over his seat next year.
"In the Scuderia Ferrari roll of honor of great drivers, Fernando Alonso will always occupy a special place," Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci said in a statement. "We offer him our heartfelt thanks for what has been an extraordinary adventure with the Scuderia, when in the past five years, he twice came so close to winning the world championship."
Alonso, who won the F1 title with Renault in 2005 and 2006, expressed his frustration with Ferrari last year after the Hungarian Grand Prix. That earned him a public rebuke from the team and fueled rumors that he was on his way out.
Alonso has won 11 races for Ferrari and secured 44 podium places. His final race will be on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He is fifth in the overall standings and has managed only two podium positions this season. His last win was at the Spanish GP last May.
Alonso came close to winning the title in the final race in Abu Dhabi four years ago, entering with an eight-point lead. But Vettel won the first of his four straight titles with Red Bull that year.
McLaren's seats are currently taken by former champion Jenson Button and promising driver Kevin Magnussen of Denmark.
On Tuesday, McLaren said it has decided to put off any announcement on its 2015 driver line-up until next month.
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