The first-ever F2 Feature Race in Madrid marked a return to the podium for Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne, who crossed the line in second to claim his sixth podium of the season.
Dunne and race winner Dino Beganovic proved to be in a league of their own, with their fastest laps almost two seconds quicker than the rest of the field. Showcasing strong race pace throughout the Feature Race, the Irishman also snatched the fastest-lap point in the closing stages, setting a time almost seven tenths quicker than Beganovic.
Speaking in the post-Feature press conference, where Pit Debrief was in attendance, the Alpine-backed driver reflected on his performance and the first-ever race weekend at the Madring.
“Impressed” with how the Soft tyres held up
Reflecting on his race, Dunne said: “Yeah, I think it was a good one. I’m very happy. I think definitely the soft tyre had quite a lot of performance, I think more than I expected, even with how strong it looked in the sprint race yesterday. I think most of the drivers who were on it yesterday ended up gaining places and were able to maintain that. Where I expected them to probably deg a little bit more towards the end.”
“I think to be honest, the performance of mainly of the soft on the first stint today is what helped Dino and I so much to finish what we did. I think being able to extend that first stint for so long and stay out and wait for a safety car.”
The Alpine-backed driver admitted he was impressed by how well the soft tyres held up over the stint, with degradation eventually stabilising. He believed that tyre performance proved key to his strong race and would have allowed him to continue at a similar pace even without the safety car intervention.
“And to be honest, I think even then, if there was no safety car and you asked at least me to do another 10 laps at the same level of performance, I think I could have done it because the softs, I was really impressed by how good they felt.”
He added: “I think they kind of degged to a certain point, and from that point on, it wasn’t really getting any worse. I kind of just stayed the same and I was doing the same lap times all the time. I think that really impressed me and I think that was the key point to having a good race today.”
Dunne: “It was really hard” to push on the Hard tyres
Having started the race on soft tyres, Dunne switched to the hard compound for his second stint. When asked about his experience on the hard tyres, the Irishman admitted that he struggled comparatively, particularly with the heavier steering.
“Definitely a little bit. I think for whatever reason, it was a lot more physical on the hard tyre.”, the Rodin driver said. “I think definitely physicality and steering weight is something that we discussed not only coming into the weekend but more so coming into today because it was an extra 10 laps on top of what we had yesterday.”
“But I think on the soft, it wasn’t too hard to be honest. If anything, I found it quite easy. But on the hard, it was really hard. I think the amount of steering weight I had through Turn 12 and all the high-speed corners was really difficult.”
The 20 year-old explained that the heavy steering forced him to ease off towards the end of the race. Despite the difference in feeling between the two compounds, he maintained strong pace on the hard tyres and secured the fastest lap.
“And at the end, I had to back off because I think if I pushed a little bit over the limit, I don’t think I would have been able to catch it because the steering was so heavy.”
“So yeah, definitely need to look into exactly why it was so different from the soft to the hard. But I think in the end, the pace was still really strong, and we managed to get a fast lap as well, which was good.”
Physicality challenges around La Monumental
The Madring presents a punishing challenge with a wide variety of corners, most notably La Monumental. Featuring 24% banking across 547 metres, the high-speed corner subjects drivers to significant G-forces and adds to the physical demands of a lap around the circuit.
“Yeah, I mean, it was crazy. I think I saw a video the other day where I think the corner is like over 500 metres long. We’re going through there at 200 plus kilometres an hour, and you have a lot of banking, which naturally puts a lot more load through the car.”, Dunne said when asked about the physical demands of driving through La Monumental.
“It’s at the point where we have the most downforce. The steering gets really heavy. So yeah, to be honest, it was pretty tough.”
“I think at the end, I had to back off a little bit through Turn 12 because it was just too difficult. And I think it wasn’t worth risking an incident or anything like that. But I think up until that point, we got the most out of it, which was good.”
Conquering three new street circuits in 2026
The 2026 season has presented a unique challenge for the grid, with drivers tackling several new venues for the first time, including Miami, Montreal and now Madrid.
When Pit Debrief asked how much he had enjoyed the challenge of navigating three new street circuits this season, Dunne said: “I think those three weekends for me have been by far the most enjoyable ones we’ve had in the year.”
“I think realistically, it’s going to be very rare for you to find a racing driver that says they don’t enjoy high-speed street circuits. I think it’s something that all of us really enjoy, I think it’s always a good test as a driver as well.”
He added: “You know, you need to be comfortable with a car on the limit. You need to put the car in a window where, you know, I think typically tracks like this, having the balance of the car on the nose is always going to be a good way to get more lap time out of it. But you also need to be comfortable and confident in the car to be able to extract that out of it as well. So I think it’s definitely a very good test as a driver.”
“And I think in weekends like this, drivers can always get that extra little bit out of it in comparison to others because of the high commitment that you need to have.”
“So for sure for me, I think Miami, Canada and this weekend are the three most enjoyable we’ve had this year. And I think these are the tracks that all of us love.”
Madring a “really enjoyable” track to Dunne
The Irishman sang the Madring’s praises, finding the circuit particularly enjoyable in Qualifying, where its demanding layout rewards commitment and confidence. However, when asked whether he would make any changes to the track, Dunne acknowledged that overtaking proved difficult during the races.
“I think at least for qualifying, I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make the track better, I think for me the track was really enjoyable.”
“I think maybe in races it would be a little bit better if like the braking zone in Turn 5 was straight rather than curved around a corner, because I think that makes it a lot harder for overtaking. And ultimately, as amazing as this track is in qualifying, it does make it very difficult to move forward in the race.”
“So I think that’s the only thing, you know, maybe making some of the braking zones a little bit straighter to invite a bit more of opportunity for racing. But then in saying that, that would also probably take away from the enjoyment in qualifying as well. So I think there’s kind of a couple of things you could do. But in qualifying for me, it was perfect.”
Following the Madrid Feature Race, Dunne remains fourth in the Drivers’ Standings with 139 points. Sitting 14 points behind Gabriele Minì in third, the Irishman will look to close the gap as the championship heads to Baku for the next round.
