Young Irish driver Alex Dunne delivered a standout performance during his Formula 1 free practice debut for McLaren at the Austrian Grand Prix, potentially strengthening his case for a place on the 2026 grid.
Dunne took over Lando Norris`s car for Friday`s first practice session, fulfilling one of the four mandatory rookie practice outings for McLaren.
The 19-year-old seized the opportunity, securing an impressive fourth place, trailing championship leader Oscar Piastri in the sister McLaren by less than a tenth of a second.
Typically, rookie drivers are significantly slower and end up towards the bottom of the timesheets in such sessions, making Dunne`s performance particularly noteworthy.
`I want to say a massive thank you, you made a little boy`s dream come true. This is definitely the best day of my life,` Dunne commented over the team radio as he returned to the garage after the session.
`Thank you everyone for letting me do this and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with his car. It means a lot.`
Who is Alex Dunne?
Born in Offaly on November 11, 2005, Dunne rapidly ascended the karting ranks before moving into Formula 4 at the minimum eligible age of 15.
He achieved pole position and a podium finish on his single-seater debut in F4, subsequently dominating the 2022 British F4 season and attracting significant attention.
Dunne finished as runner-up to Kimi Antonelli in Italian F4 the same year and secured second place in the GB3 Championship in 2023. Despite facing challenges in consistently performing in F3, McLaren signed him in May 2024, and he progressed to F2 with Rodin Motorsport this year.
Although not initially anticipated as a title contender, he currently leads the F2 standings heading into this weekend`s races in Austria, following two strong feature race victories in Bahrain and Imola, along with two additional podiums.
However, he was judged responsible for a first-lap incident in the Monaco Feature Race involving Victor Martins, which resulted in a multi-car pile-up. Dunne faced significant criticism on social media afterwards, prompting him to remove social media apps from his phone.
`I got a lot of stuff after Monaco, normally I`m not someone who reads things and gets annoyed by them,` he stated.
`But I think an hour after the race, I deleted social media off my phone because I`ve never received such bad messages in my life. A lot of the stuff I got was really bad and quite upsetting, to be honest.`
Dunne recovered from a grid penalty related to the Monaco incident by charging from 19th to second in the Spanish F2 Sprint Race and finishing fifth in the Feature Race, maintaining his championship lead going into the seventh round in Austria this weekend.
Dunne `Very Pleased` with F1 Outing
McLaren primarily used hard tyres for Dunne during the initial part of the Austrian practice session, before switching to a relatively fresh set of softs for the final segment, which allowed Dunne to climb to fourth position.
`It was not a bad lap. It was not new soft tyres either, so there are a lot of positives to take,` said Dunne, who is scheduled to compete in the F2 Sprint race on Saturday.
`Of course, if I got in the car again I would get quicker and quicker. I put the lap together pretty well and applied what I learned from the session to maximise my learning. The team helped me immensely in preparing for this, which made it significantly easier for me.`
`Regardless of the final performance and pace, I`m most pleased that it was a clean session. There were no errors, and I didn`t impede anyone.`
`Everything we needed to test at the start went smoothly and according to plan. From that perspective, I was very happy.`
Norris impressed by Dunne
Norris observed the first practice session from the pit wall, but his missed track time had no adverse effects, partly due to how smoothly Dunne handled the session.
The British driver topped the timesheets in Practice Two, finishing 0.157 seconds ahead of Piastri, and acknowledged Dunne`s helpful feedback.
`The car felt good from the start,` Norris commented. `Alex provided good feedback this morning after FP1, and he was on the pace immediately, which was good to see.`
Team principal Andrea Stella explained that Dunne`s run included testing McLaren`s planned upgrades for Austria and completing some aero rake work.
`Throughout the session, Alex was quite diligent and impressive. He also had the opportunity to demonstrate his speed, and unsurprisingly, he is a fast driver,` Stella remarked.
`I believe we should be cautious when analyzing the lap times, as his quickest lap came later in the run with less fuel.`
`Nevertheless, it was an encouraging and impressive performance from Alex himself, and I also think it was a productive session for McLaren.`
Chandhok: McLaren should make a deal with Cadillac
Both Norris and Piastri are contracted through 2026, meaning there is currently no immediate seat available for Dunne at McLaren.
However, he can find encouragement in the trajectory of Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman, who made a strong impression during practice sessions for Haas and deputized for Ferrari before securing a full-time seat with Haas.
While driver futures in F1 are uncertain, as demonstrated by the numerous driver market changes this season, the most likely opportunity for Dunne might be with the sport`s prospective 11th team, Cadillac, set to join the grid in 2026.
Commentator Karun Chandhok suggested McLaren should consider finding a way to loan Dunne out.
`If I were McLaren now, I`d be looking to strike a deal with Cadillac or a similar team to loan him out,` Chandhok stated.
`Based on everything he has demonstrated – he leads the F2 championship, they`ve seen his potential in testing, and we`re witnessing it publicly today…`
`…you want to find him a seat somewhere to gain racing experience. I would be trying to arrange a deal for him elsewhere for a period.`
`Loan him out, keeping him on a `tether` so they can recall him, similar to how Mercedes managed George Russell`s situation previously.`
