What makes Alex Dunne’s early F2 success so special

Photos: Formula Motorsport Ltd

McLaren junior Alex Dunne triumphed emphatically in his first F2 feature race, scoring a landmark win for Ireland, for himself and his family after a trying year in FIA F3

Few would have bet that the first Formula 2 feature race of the year would have been won by a driver who finished 14th in the FIA Formula 3 championship last season. But that’s exactly what Alex Dunne achieved in Bahrain on Sunday with Rodin Motorsport, rapidly repaying the faith that backer McLaren demonstrated in promoting the 19-year-old to this level even when his most recent results might not have warranted such a leap.

Since welcoming Dunne into the ranks of its driver development programme last year, the Formula 1 team has – together with sponsors from his native Ireland – helped to elevate a career that could have been stopped in its tracks much earlier.

Now, he’s become the first driver representing his nation to win a race in F2 – or any era of F1’s premier feeder series – since Derek Daly 46 years ago.

“To be an Irish driver at this level, representing McLaren is something that’s pretty special for me and not only me, but also for my whole family as well,” Dunne tells media including Formula Scout after his win.

“Realistically, I think towards the end of my karting career, I never really expected to get this far. There was a couple of times where we were very close to stopping it all because financially we were struggling. So to have so much support from home and from McLaren and the people around me who have pushed me to get to where I am today is a very big thing.”

Second-tier single-seater races won by drivers representing Ireland

Dunne is already feeling the benefit of increasing support from the MDDP, which is now led by former Sauber chief Alessandro Alunni Bravi and whose guidance is channeled at least partly through Dunne’s driver coach Warren Hughes.

“Especially this year, they’ve really been pushing me on, trying to help me in the best way they can and they’ve really opened up the doors a lot more to me to try and help me develop and perform better as a driver, and that seems to be working so far,” he explains.

“The support from home has always been really good, but it’s definitely been another level this year, and every time I come in from a session or a race and I look at my phone, to see all the messages I have from people, it’s always, always kind things, which is really nice. The support has been really cool and it’s very special to me and something I hold close to my heart.”

While Dunne’s first congratulations in parc ferme last weekend came from McLaren chief Zak Brown, the warmest embrace was reserved for his greatest supporter of all – his father and former Formula Ford racer Noel.

“My dad has been with me my my entire career, and I think normally I’m not a very emotional person, but I probably felt a little bit emotional when I saw him getting out of the car and, you know, it was a very, very, very special thing for me.”

Dunne’s talent in a racing car has rarely been in doubt. After all, he claimed pole position in his first ever qualifying session, in Spanish Formula 4 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2021. He got closer than anyone to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Italian F4 the following year, when he also comfortably won the British F4 title. His performances earned him a call up to Ferrari’s annual scouting camp, but with limited funding to lean on, no deal was forthcoming.

Dunne chasing Antonelli (Photo: ACI Sport)

With Hitech GP he managed to step up to GB3 for 2023 and shone on trips to the European continent, with double wins at Spa and Zandvoort but only one victory across six weekends on British circuits, where rivals had been able to test more often.

Missing out to Callum Voisin in the title fight could have halted his momentum, but Dunne was rapid on his F3 test debut and then at the Macau Grand Prix with Hitech, and managed to do a deal to join MP Motorsport for 2024 with backing from McLaren, which came on board from round three. But two sprint race podiums were the best results he could manage.

“It’s been a long road to get here and, not only has it been a long road, but last year in F3 was more difficult than we would have liked, and we finished maybe not necessarily where my talent shows, let’s say. I felt like as a driver, I’m better than what I showed last year.

“So to have a result like this so early on in our F2 season is a very special feeling, and it probably means just as much to [Noel] as it does to me. So it’s a massive family thing. Pretty much everything in my motorsport career, I have thanks to him. He’s done so much for me, not only him but my mum as well. It’s not just him, it’s a family thing, and I have to say a massive thanks to both my parents.”

Dunne qualified fifth on his debut in Melbourne but was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for both races after his team was among those found to have illegally drilled holes to gather airflow data in pre-season testing. He raced to ninth, one place outside the points, in the sprint race. The feature race was cancelled due to heavy rain, there was some telling signs he had pace left to unlock when the paddock headed to Bahrain for an in-season test and then last weekend he qualified fourth.

“Generally our overall pace has been pretty strong, pretty consistent,” he says. “There were a couple of things in Melbourne and also in the test that as a driver I was struggling a little bit with the car, so we changed a couple of things coming into this weekend, to make it a little bit easier for me and I think it’s worked.”

The nature of modern F2 means that any individual result has to be taken in its context, and for Dunne’s victory, that context is the notably strong record that Rodin has at the track. The team was in its previous identity as Carlin when F2 debuted its previous-generation car there in 2018, and it took a one-two with Lando Norris and Sergio Sette Camara. Carlin had no more wins that season, and when the current car debuted last year it was a similar story. Zane Maloney’s double win in the the first weekend of the campaign were Rodin’s only victories of 2024.

“The team has done a mega job,” Dunne says. “I knew the pace was there to have a good result, but I think naturally even if you know the pace is there you probably would never expect a [dominant] result like this.

“But the thing that makes it even sweeter is after the race we had yesterday. I was a bit disappointed with myself towards the end of the sprint race. We started [it] really strong and then after the second safety car restart… I hold myself to a certain level, and I don’t think it was at that level after the second safety car restart.

“So, to bounce back like that in a dominant fashion is a nice way to redeem myself and pay back the team.”

Dunne was moving forward from seventh on the reversed grid in the sprint race and was sitting fourth when the race restarted with five laps remaining. At that point he was two places ahead of Campos Racing’s race winner Pepe Marti.

“I had made some really good moves and I was on a roll, let’s say, and I was constantly moving forward, and after that second safety car restart when it all bunched up again, I just tried to do too much in one go,” admits Dunne.

“I should have just been patient and waited and, if I ended up finishing P4, then great, but [by] trying to finish P3 instead of P4, I ended up finishing outside the points with a broken front wing. It was just one of those things where I should have been a bit more patient, but it’s something I’ve definitely learned from and I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

Dunne got up from fourth to second at the start of the feature race behind Invicta Racing’s poleman Leonardo Fornaroli and seemed happy at first to sit behind his fellow rookie, before he closed up and then launched a move on lap seven.

Once in the lead, Dunne effortlessly pulled away – and did so again after emerging from his pitstop just in front of ART Grand Prix’s F2 veteran Victor Martins.

“Initially I hadn’t planned to go straight for the lead,” Dunne explains. “A couple of laps before I passed Leo I didn’t really feel like I was necessarily the quicker car. Then there was like a switch between pace. Initially I didn’t necessarily feel strong and then from one lap to the next it waslike a big deficit. That’s when I went for the move and after that it seemed like the pace was just really strong until the end of the race.

“Once we got in the lead, and once I broke DRS to Leo, we could see that the pace was strong to have a good result, so I just kept on pushing on, but I tried my best not to push too much. When you’re in a position like that and you’re feeling comfortable and driving away, it’s relatively easy to lead yourself down the wrong road and push a little bit too hard. So I tried to manage that and I asked the team for updates all the time, to make sure I understood what was going on behind me, and we managed it well.

“Moving forward, qualifying is a bigger thing to me than the race, to be honest. If you qualify at the front, the rest is how it is. We will just keep on focusing on that but I feel pretty comfortable. If we keep on performing and doing a good job, I think we are in a good place.”

If this form does carry on, how long until Dunne gets a taste of F1 machinery with McLaren? He is the most senior MDDP member aside from IndyCar star Pato O’Ward, and has already been made McLaren’s Formula E reserve driver aged 19.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“I don’t know how much I can say,” Dunne responds when asked if F1 outings could be coming this year. “I think I have to wait and see. Naturally motorsport is a performance-led thing, and if I keep on going in the direction we’re going at the moment, then I don’t see why, you know, the chance of driving an F1 car isn’t possible.

“I’m the only driver in F2 as a part of McLaren, so that will be something hopefully in my favour. And if I just keep on focusing on myself… you know, there’s no point in me thinking about F1 right now. I’m not an F1 driver. You could say I’m close, but realistically, I’m not even close to F1 yet, so there’s no point in me thinking about F1.

“I just focus on what I can do in F2 and if I keep on performing at a high level, then hopefully the opportunity will arise.”