Giancarlo Fisichella's departure from Renault became official on Monday with the announcement that former world champion Fernando Alonso would return to the Formula 1 team and that Nelson Piquet Jr. had been promoted to second driver.
The news did not come as a surprise after Renault boss Flavio Britatore announced last month that his team would have a completely new driver line-up for the 2008 season.
This meant that Heikki Kovalainen was also on his way out after only one season with Renault.
Fisichella, who turns 35 next month, had been with Renault for the past there season, the first two of which saw Alonso win the drivers' title and Renault the constructors' championship.
Speaking on Monday, Britatore said: ''I would like to thank Giancarlo and Heikki for their hard work throughout a long and difficult year.
''We had expected to have a car capable of winning races, but that did not prove to be the case. Rather than let their heads drop, both drivers worked even harder to turn the situation around''.
In a special reference to Fisichella, the Renault boss added: ''Giancarlo's experience was a crucial factor in helping us to improve our performance and he leaves the team after making a vital contribution to our two championship years in 2005 and 2006.
''We thank him for making these special moments possible for the team and wish him well for the future.''
Knowing that his days were numbered at Renault, Fisichella spent last week in Spain where he tested with Force India, the team created when Orange India Holdings acquired the Spyker Formula 1 team in October.
The team is also one of the few which still has to decide on its drivers for next season.
Fisichella had high hopes for a title bid at the start of the past season when he became senior driver at Renault following the departure of then-world champion Alonso.
His dreams of a crack at the title never materialised, however, and he finished the season in eighth place with only 21 points, compared to the 110 points of 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen, in his first year at Ferrari.
Alonso's ambitions at McLaren-Mercedes also fell short and he left the British-German team by mutual agreement after only one year, during which he fell under the shadow of his 22-year-old Formula 1 rookie teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
The 26-year-old Spanish champion said he was excited about returning to Renault ''the team where I grew up as a Formula 1 driver. Now is the time for us to begin a new chapter and I'm confident that together we can move back to the front of the field''.
