The Frenchman, who has been in the role since June 2014, is currently on gardening leave to see out his contract.

Discussions are ongoing about when he will be free to join a rival outfit, with speculation linking him with a move to the Haas team in the early part of next year.

A switch to Haas would see him link up again with the team's technical partner Dallara, where he worked from 2004 until 2006.

After that spell, Cattelani was at Peugeot Sport where he was head of aerodynamics and then chief designer of its 908 Le Mans car. In 2012, he joined Lotus as its principal aerodynamicist before his move to McLaren.

Following the arrival at McLaren of new team principal Andreas Seidl earlier this year, the team has been restructuring and rebuilding in its bid to move forward.

Cattelani's departure, by mutual consent, hints at a fresh face arriving at the team to push its aero programme forward – but there has been no confirmation of this.

McLaren declined to elaborate on the news when contacted. A team spokesman said: "We never comment on personnel matters."

Haas also declined to comment on the speculation linking Cattelani with a move there.