McLaren told which F1 team to sign Alex Dunne to after superb FP1 session

Alex Dunne performed admirably during his first FP1 outing ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix for McLaren.

The Irish driver looked composed behind the wheel and confidently got up to speed over the 10-turn lap.

Dunne made very few mistakes during his debut on a Formula 1 weekend and ended the session fourth quickest.

He was just one-tenth of a second behind his much more experienced teammate, Oscar Piastri in the opening session of the weekend.

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok was impressed with the McLaren junior.

He has followed Dunne closely for several years and told McLaren they should push for him to race at Cadillac.

Alex Dunne performed admirably in FP1

Chandhok told McLaren "I'd be trying to do a deal with Cadillac"

Cadillac is joining the Formula 1 grid next season to create the 11th team on the grid and is yet to announce its drivers.

The Sky Sports pundit said after FP1: "If I was McLaren now, I'd be trying to do a deal with Cadillac or someone like that. Based on everything he potentially shown. He's the leader of the F2 Championship, and they've seen potential in testing.

"We are seeing it publicly today. They've seen it. You want to find him a seat somewhere to build up some racing experience.

"Honestly, I'd be trying to get him a deal somewhere else for a period of time and just farm him out on some sort of a tether that they can pull him back in in a way that Mercedes have done in the past with George Russell, for example. I'd be. If I was McLaren, I'd be trying to get him a racing somewhere."

Cadillac have been rumoured to be interested in more experienced drivers such as Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

A younger talent may be an option, and McLaren also let their former junior, Gabriel Bortoleto, partner with Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber.