MADRID, Spain -- Former two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso has left the McLaren team, Spanish media reported Friday.
Alonso's agent, Luis Garcia Abad, reached a deal with McLaren team chief Ron Dennis under which the driver does not have to pay anything for rescinding his contract, Europa Press reported.
"Fernando is no longer with McLaren. It is confirmed. He is free to sign with any team next season," Garcia Abad told Europa Press.
Alonso, who still had two years left on his contract, joined McLaren this year after winning the drivers' championship two years in a row with Renault. He clashed with McLaren management and teammate Lewis Hamilton throughout the season, finishing third behind champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and Hamilton.
He has been linked with possible moves to Renault and Williams.
Alonso had complained that as a two-time world champion he deserved preferential treatment, and accused McLaren of favoring the 22-year-old rookie Hamilton. Dennis and Alonso didn't talk to each other for a period.
"Outside the car, we had some difficulties this season, that was no secret," Alonso said after the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. "You have ups and downs sometimes, but I will have great memories from this year."
Alonso was one of the drivers who had his name involved in the spying scandal that overshadowed the second half of the season.
McLaren was fined a record $100 million by the World Motor Sport Council on Sept. 13 after FIA found the team guilty of using leaked data from Ferrari. The British team was kicked out of the constructors' championship, and authorities contended that Alonso had some knowledge of the facts.
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