Suzuka, Japan - The Renault Formula One racing team said Thursday it would name a successor for Fernando Alonso, who is leaving for Ferrari, next week. The Spanish two-time world champion already signed a three-year contract with the Italian team and will replace Kimi Raikkonen as a driver in the 2010 season.
Renault wished Alonso "all the best," the French team said in a statement issued in Suzuka, ahead of Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
The team would now concentrate on ending the season with good results, the statement added.
BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica of Poland is believed to have already signed a deal to replace Alonso at Renault.
Meanwhile, Ferrari rejected Spanish media reports of an annual salary of 25 million euros (36.5 million dollars) for Alonso, saying there was no "gold rush" in Maranello, the team's home base in Italy.
"The numbers talked about have absolutely nothing to do with reality. It's easy to write numbers, forgetting that the world has changed recently," the team said on its website.
"At Ferrari a lot of calculating is done and attention is not only paid to the costs of the operational structure, but also as far as the drivers are concerned."
In Suzuka, the 28-year-old star driver was relaxed ahead of the 15th of 17 races this season, joking with fans at the obligatory autograph session.
"I'm very happy and very proud to become a Ferrari driver," Alonso was quoted as saying by the Ferrari.com website. "Driving a single-seater from the Prancing Horse is everybody's dream in this sport and today I have the opportunity to make this dream come true."
He had originally planned to move to Ferrari only in 2011, Alonso said, but in "the last days, the picture changed and we decided to anticipate my arrival in Maranello by one year."
Alonso will team up with Brazilian driver Felipe Massa and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella as reserve driver, while Raikkonen is set to return to his former team McLaren-Mercedes.
