Eric Boullier has left as Lotus Formula One team principal amid speculation he could replace Martin Whitmarsh at McLaren.
Lotus said in a statement on Friday that co-chairman Gerard Lopez would act as team principal with immediate effect.
The statement said that Lotus would announce its organisational structure for the 2014 F1 campaign ahead of the second round of testing next month in Bahrain.
The team is not taking part in next week's first tests as it will not unveil its new car until Bahrain.
"We thank Eric for all his hard work over the past four years and we are confident we can continue to fight as one of the top teams in Formula One over the seasons ahead," Lopez said in the statement.
Boullier joined the then Renault team in 2010. At Lotus from 2012 onwards, he led them to successive fourth-place finishes in the 2012 and 2013 constructors' championship despite financial problems. They earned two race wins in the period from Kimi Raikkonen, who has returned to Ferrari.
The 2014 driver line-up is Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado.
News reports, including from autosport.com, speculated that Boullier could move on to McLaren after their long-time team principal Ron Dennis replaced Whitmarsh as McLaren Group CEO and plans changes to make the former world champions competitive again.
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