Irish and Rodin Motorsport driver Alex Dunne reclaimed the F2 championship lead following a commanding win in the Feature race at the Imola GP.
From P4 on the grid, a superb stop by Rodin allowed Dunne to jump Fornaroli and Lindblad. Although Luke Browning overcut him and the rest of the gang who pitted at the end of lap 6, an elbows out defensive move from the Brit on cold tyres saw Beganovic end up on the grass on the exit of Tosa, allowing the Irishman to move into a net P2.
Using DRS on the main straight, Dunne passed Browning for the neat lead as lap 9 started.
Where the 19-year-old really made the difference was after the Safety Car to clear Villagomez’s machinery. A number of drivers on the alternate strategy had to stay out as the softer tyre was never going to last 20 laps. That meant the guys who boxed early needed to pull off some overtaking moves.
Rodin driver Dunne is not afraid to send it and he showed it in the feature, pulling off incredible passes on Miyata and Martí at Tosa. He also made a superb move on teammate Cordeel into the Varianate Alta.
By the time Luke Browning got through into 2nd, Alex Dunne had built a 5.2s lead as his bold moves paid off a treat. He went on to take the chequered flag and victory by 6.5s from the Brit.
Alex Dunne was not sure if victory was on in F2 Imola GP Feature race
In the opening laps the Offaly driver was in P4 after Lindblad got him at the start. On the softs he did not feel the pace was there. Overcutting like Browning was never an option. Dunne felt much stronger on the harder prime tyre in the second stint.
Nonetheless, he told Pit Debrief and other media outlets that he believes the key to the win was the superb pit stop by the Rodin mechanics.
“Yeah, I think it was definitely one of the trickier races.
“I think, to be honest, at the beginning, I didn’t really feel like I quite had the pace, at least to go for the win. I felt like a couple of people around me were maybe a bit quicker and I was happy to manage more than I probably would have liked.
“But you know, I think also when you’re in that position, it’s very difficult to get a read on other people’s pace because they can seem very quick at the time and then fall off the cliff later on in the race.
“I definitely think on the prime we were stronger than on the option. I think that’s why I had to pit with everyone else because I think if we went one lap longer, it would have been a different race because I was really starting to struggle on the options.
“But no, I think I said already, to be completely honest, I think the pit stop is what won us the race. I think jumping two people in the pits without me having to force the issue on track and take away from the tyre is a massive thing. So I think that’s pretty much what put me in the position to win today, to be honest.”
The moves into Tosa
Joshua Dürksen led a big DRS train after the Safety Car, including a number of his fellow competitors who had not pitted. It left Dunne and co. with a tricky dilemma.
The Irishman used Tosa to make an escape on the drivers on the same strategy as him. He aggressively but fairly passed Miyata and Martí to critically get himself to the front, along with the standard turn 2 moves.
He explained the process behind them.
“Well, I think the typical overtaking opportunity is turn two. But because all the cars in front of me were all in DRS, it was very difficult to make a move.
“And I think naturally, because of the tyre deficit [they had], I was quicker through the corners. So through two, three and five, six, I was able to stay relatively close.
“I think a lot of them didn’t really expect the move. So I kind of just threw it on the inside and hope for the best. It seemed to work pretty well.
“And I think I made two moves there and kind of caught both drivers off guard.
“But no, it was definitely much harder to overtake than I expected, to be honest.I think I got past, I can’t remember who, but I got past the first car that was in front of me after the restart really easily.
“And then after that, I kind of got stuck for much longer than I would have liked, but it seemed to be the same for everyone else.
“I think at that time, I initially thought maybe I was going to start to struggle, but it seemed like all the other runners behind me were also struggling to overtake.
“So no, it was a difficult position to be in, but I think I managed it well.”
The balance of making moves and making sure Browning and co. could not pass him
On the restart after the Safety Car, Alex Dunne found himself in P7 in the F2 Feature race at the Imola GP. All six cars in front had not pitted, with Browning and Beganovic right behind.
The Irish driver immediately cleared Esterson into turn 2 on the restart and Cordeel later in the lap, but it took a while to get the remaining four. Nonetheless, he did it far quicker than his main rivals, putting him out of site in the end.
“Yeah, I think my initial thought process was to try and get at least one or two of them out of the way straight away at the Safety Car restart. I think that was really important, and that’s what I managed to do. I think I got past [Max Esterson] straight away into Turn 2 after the restart, and I think that was very important.
“And after that, to be honest, I realised pretty quickly that the actual deficit in speed even, and with the DRS train, was probably not as big as what I expected, and it was definitely much harder to overtake than what I initially thought it was going to be.
“I think, to be honest, when I realised that, I just, I said on the radio, ‘okay, I’m just going to try and chill out and look after my tyres. I don’t want to push too hard’, and, you know, grain away the front right and then start to struggle.
“I knew Luke and Dino were behind me, and I knew their pace was going to be strong as well, so I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I was having to defend rather than not being able to attack.
“So, I kind of just tried to bide my time, but then every time there was an opportunity to make a move, I went for it straight away.
“I think it was a good combination of staying patient and managing everything, but then also taking the opportunities when they came.”
Patience a key ingredient to success
Since testing, Alex Dunne has consistently been running around the top 6-8 in qualifying and races. Two Feature race wins in Bahrain and Imola has shown the tremendous speed he has.
However, one area he has been looking to improve on is making the right calls when it matters in race situations. In the Bahrain Sprint, he ultimately went for too much and it cost him any chance of points. In Saudi Arabia, he got a penalty for missing the first chicane trying to pass and badly compromised Luke Browning’s race in the process as he baulked him on the rejoin. It cost him a position in the process.
Dunne says the learnings taken from that was critical for him to make the right decisions in the F2 Feature race at the Imola GP.
“Yeah, very, very happy.
“I think being a bit more patient and making moves at the right time is something from the beginning of the year that I probably needed to do better. We saw the sprint race in Bahrain, and then also in the feature race in Jeddah with Luke.
“I think my decision-making in those little moments probably weren’t quite good enough, and I always at that time put myself in a position that I didn’t need to put myself in.
“So I think today, naturally, I knew that making the right decisions at the right time was going to be very, very important, especially with all the prime runners in front of us. So I just tried to make sure that I was patient as possible, and I didn’t try and force the issue.
“I’m happy I did that, and that the end result is, I think, a testament to working on what I’ve needed to do better previously.”
When Alex Dunne felt the race victory was on in F2 Feature race at Imola GP
Good points and a top 5 result looked likely in the early stages for Alex Dunne as he sat in 4th place behind Lindblad. The Red Bull junior was second in Sprint and showed very strong pace at the end of it, leading to Dunne claiming in the first few laps he was the big threat.
However, the Beganovic-Fornaroli-Lindblad-Dunne top 4 became a Dunne-Browning-Beganovic-Lindblad top 4 after their stops. That’s the moment Dunne felt the victory was possible.
”Probably after the pit stop.
“I think what I said on the radio was probably a little bit getting ahead of myself, I would say at the time. I think after the pit stop, the race completely changed.
“At the time, I can’t remember if Luke was behind me or if he was a couple of places behind me, but I think my judgement at that time was kind of from the cars around me and then also what I experienced yesterday. It looked like Arvid’s pace in the sprint was very strong as well.
“So no, I think after the pit stop is kind of when it came alive. But I did have a feeling that it was going to get better through the race.
“I think yesterday in the Sprint until around lap 15, I kind of felt like I was struggling and everyone in front of me was driving away. And then towards the end of the race, we kind of flipped the switch and then the pace was really, really strong.
“So I think that’s just kind of the philosophy we have with the minute and that’s kind of the way I drive. I prefer to relax a little bit at the beginning and then push it on as we go through the race.
“But no, I think after the pit stop is when the race kind of flipped on its head.”
Tyre degradation worries
Pitting at the end of lap 6 meant Dunne had to do 30 laps on his prime tyre in the F2 Feature race at the Imola GP, a long stint by any measure.
He conceded the tyres did not feel fantastic in the DRS train he found himself in after the Safety Car. However, they cleaned themselves up once he got back into clean air in the race lead. In fact, he pulled away from Browning in the closing laps once the Brit moved into P2. The gap went from 5.2s to 6.5s by the chequered flag.
“Of course I was concerned.
“The tyres at that point of the race didn’t feel as good as what I had hoped they would. But it seemed like everyone was in a very similar position.
“I think at the end, then once I got into the lead and once I had a few laps of clean air, I think all the dirt and the marbles and stuff on my tyres had kind of cleaned away. And then by the end of the race, it would start to feel really good again.
“So I think it’s just a scenario of managing it the best you can and not trying to be too eager when you’re stuck in a train.”
Constantly improving and learning
On Saturday in the F2 Imola GP Sprint race, Alex Dunne played the long game to finish P5. In the early stages of the race he looked after his tyres. Come the end of it, he was the fastest car on track along with Arvid Lindblad.
In the Feature race at the F2 Imola GP the 19-year-old showed his impressive racecraft to make decisive moves and claim a huge victory.
Asked by Pit Debrief about the importance of having good tyre management as well as delivering clinical moves when required, Alex Dunne explained how pleased he is with the progress he’s making as a driver and the role Rodin Motorsport play in that.
“I’m very happy.
“I think a big thing as a driver is improving and learning from the mistakes you’ve made previously. That’s something from the beginning of the season that I’ve really looked at with the team and try to improve on and make sure that the mistakes I make don’t ever happen again.
“I think the way we managed the race today and the way I managed the race today was definitely a step forward and a step in that direction. I’m really, really happy with that and proud that we’ve managed to fix the little things that maybe hindered us towards the beginning of the season.
“Of course, we still have a long way to go, but still, it’s nice to fix these things early and then work on them as the season gets deeper and deeper into the year.
“I’m very happy.
“I think at the beginning of the race today, I was still trying to manage my tyres the best I could, but I knew once the pit stop came, things were going to get spicy, let’s say.
“I’m happy with the management we did today.”
Alex Dunne on leading the Drivers’ Championship once again
A second F2 Feature race win in 2025 has moved Alex Dunne eight points clear of Luke Browning in the Drivers’ Championship after four rounds.
However, the schedule is getting even busier from here for the Formula 2 drivers with F1 coming into its European part of the season. Monaco and Spain are coming up over the next two race weekends.
While it’s satisfying to be the championship leader, Dunne is fully aware there is a long way to go and is taking things one weekend at a time.
“It’s really nice, but I think also to not get too caught up on where I am in the standings. Of course, leading the championship is the best position to be in, but I think the important thing is to be leading the championship at the end of the year, not now.
“So I’m very, very happy, but there’s still a long way to go and definitely some things still naturally that can improve on.
“But of course, we’re in a very good position and I think the team and I are performing well together at the minute.”
