McLaren and Alex Dunne have split up in a shocking turn of events. However, the denouement between the two parties left the F1 sphere shaken. This abrupt nature of the announcement led fans to question what led the two parties to discontinue their collaboration.Dunne became a part of McLaren's development driver programme last year. He was then a part of the F3 field and claimed two podiums since the British team began supporting him. He was then promoted to F2, and after a mediocre start to his 2025 campaign, the 19-year-old hit the ground running in Bahrain.The Rodin Motorsport driver won his maiden feature race in Sakhir and never looked back since. He then drove the 2025 papaya F1 car at two of the four mandatory rookie FP1 outings for the team.But, this split left the F1 sphere caught off-guard, leading fans to question what led to the out-of-the-blue breakup of Dunne and McLaren:"Why have you Dunne this lads."Alex @AlexF1BCLLINKWhy have you Dunne this lads"WHAT??? you have got to be kidding me," one fan wrote."So Zak can break contracts but nobody else can," another fan wrote.Meanwhile, others conspired about where the young driver could head in the future:"That must mean he’ll be racing for a other team in f1 next year surely," one netizen wrote."Helmut Marko has called 📞," another netizen wrote."Dunne to VCARB it is then," a third netizen shared.With two more mandatory rookie FP1 outings left for the papaya outfit, Dunne was in contention to run the F1 car for another round around another F1 track if the team had not elected another driver to do so.Alex Dunne thanks McLaren for the two outings with the 2025 F1 challengerAlex Dunne driving Oscar Piastri's car at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy FP1 session - Source: GettyAlex Dunne and McLaren had cordial relations since the start of the 2025 season. The teenager was brought in to drive an F1 car for the first time at the Austrian GP earlier in the year, where he finished the season fourth-fastest of the bunch.This elated result had garnered eyes on him. Though his Italian GP FP1 outing was not as strong, and with the two mutually deciding to part ways, Dunne expressed his gratitude to the British team for providing him with the opportunity to drive F1 cars, as he captioned his Instagram post:"I’d like to thank every individual at McLaren that has helped me develop and improve as a driver, To have my first opportunity to drive an F1 car followed by two FP1 sessions is something I’ll always hold very close to my heart, I wish them all the best for the future. Thank you Papaya family 🧡" View this post on Instagram Instagram PostMeanwhile, Dunne sits fifth in the F2 championship standings with a 58-point gap to the table topper, Leonardo Fornaroli.