Former Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton will leave McLaren and will be replaced by Sauber’s Mexican driver Sergio Perez at the start of the 2013 season, McLaren said in a statement Friday.
Hamilton is reportedly to move to Mercedes but there was no immediate confirmation of what is said to be a $100 million deal.
“It’s entirely appropriate that I should take this opportunity to pass on our thanks to Lewis. He wrote a huge chapter of his life and career with us, and was, and always will be, a fine member of an exclusive club: the McLaren world champions’ club,” team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.
Mercedes officials meanwhile are expected to make a statement later Friday and that could spell the end of the Formula One career of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who is out of contract at the end of the year.
Hamilton had been under contract to McLaren since he was 13-years-old and won the world drivers championship in 2008.
The 27-year-old has reportedly been told by Mercedes he will be the number one driver, partnering German Nico Rosberg.
The Briton is fourth in the overall standings, 52 points behind leader Fernando Alonso heading into the last six races after suffering a gearbox failure during the Singapore Grand Prix.
Hamilton has won three races this season, in Canada, Hungary and Italy, and finished on the podium in the opening three races in Australia, Malaysia and China.
A possible move by Schumacher to another team “is not an issue today,” his manager Sabine Kehm told DPA.
Schumacher returned to Formula One in 2010 after a three-year absence, but has registered only a single podium place with Mercedes since then.
On Thursday, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn told the BBC that Schumacher had “been a huge asset to the team, he’s really taken us forward.”
He added: “I do think Michael contributes an awful lot, so I think the decision for Michael to stay or not continue is a difficult one.”