As speculation over who will partner Jenson Button at McLaren in 2014, Sergio Perez has stolen the Woking outfit's thunder by confirming that he is leaving the team.

The Mexican, took to Twitter to announce the fact that he will not be with the team next year, admitting that 2013 has been a "learning experience".

Thanking the team and insisting that he will always be a McLaren fan, he gives no clue as to his future plans.

Since Monday there has been intense speculation that the team has already signed Kevin Magnussen, though as yet nothing has been announced.

Reacting to Perez' 'confirmation' of his departure, team boss Martin Whitmarsh said: "First of all, we would like to thank Checo for his kind and gracious statement, and for being a fine team member during the 2013 Formula 1 season.

"There are still two grands prix yet to run this year, and our collective focus is on scoring as many points as we can in those two remaining races," he continued. "Checo has made many friends during his time at McLaren - and, together, as a team, we intend to do our utmost to help him finish his year with us with two good results, especially here in Austin, where he has so many fans. We wish him well for the future, and are sure that he will have many successes ahead of him.

"As regards our driver line-up for next year, no 2014 deal has yet been signed with any driver except Jenson, and we therefore have nothing further to announce at this time. As and when that situation progresses, we will make a further announcement accordingly."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Algie Lacey, 14/11/2013 10:57

"So they ditch Perez because he hasn't scored as many points as his team-mate who has been with the team now for nearly four years, has ten years more F1 experience and is an ex-world champion and despite the fact both have been driving an absolute dog of a car...
Easier to blame a young driver than the Execs. who green-lit this F1 Edsel.
Good luck to Perez - hope he gets a competitive drive for next season and shows McLaren what they're missing."

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2. Posted by Kkiirmki, 13/11/2013 19:32

"Is this the new thing at McLaren, with the team and driver pre-empting each other? Perez is hardly at fault for his lack of success though, this years McLaren has been one of their worst in recent memory. "

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3. Posted by JackTheCat, 13/11/2013 19:29

"Whilst far from the Mexican's biggest fan I feel this is grossly unfair of McLaren. They utterly failed to give their drivers a car capable of challenging anywhere near where they were last year and didn't seem to realise they had major iissues until half way through the season still talking like frontrunners whenever the opportunity arose.

Whilst Button has undoubtedly had the better of Perez it has hardly been by a massive margin and what happened to all that talk of polishing the rough diamond that Whitmarsh was spouting late last season?

It's hardly Perez's fault that it is now obvious that it was Hamilton keeping the team at the sharp end and I hope he can get a good drive elsewhere as I still think he has a good future in F1. As for McLaren next season is a very big season for them indeed. If they underdeliver by such a massive margin again it may be like watching Willaims descent into the wilderness all over again!

In my opinion Whitmarsh and Michael need to go and let some fresh blood inject some spirit back into the team!"

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4. Posted by Maria, 13/11/2013 19:27

"Good riddance. He was a menace for everyone else on track in a race. He didn't blow Jenson away by any stretch for all the hype he created before he came to Mclaren. Mclaren made a mistake with this knee jerk signing of Perez. People should applaud Mclaren for having the guts to correct things before it gets worse, not just give another season for the sake of public opinion conformity. They know some backlash is bound to happen. Time to give another rookie a chance."

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5. Posted by Burton, 13/11/2013 19:19

"He hasn't had a good season (duh), but I'm a fan of giving people a chance, so have to confess I think it's harsh (everyone will disagree, I'm sure :P)...unless Sergio was found out to be lacking in every department in addition to the driving?!"

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Perez confirms he's leaving McLaren

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