Irish driver Alex Dunne heads into the Austrian GP weekend top of the F2 standings following a rollercoaster start to his rookie campaign in the category, and Pit Debrief delivers a review of his season to date.
He will also be taking part in F1 FP1 at Red Bull Ring as McLaren give their junior driver an outing because of the mandatory rookie running.
The bad
Although he leads the championship, Alex Dunne has had a few lows already in 2025.
After the Safety Car had left the front runners on old hards versus far fresher softs for those who pitted in the closing stages, Dunne got a bit too desperate on his worn tyres. Separate pieces of contact with Browning and Miyata eventually saw him drop out of the points.
Jeddah Feature
Battling Luke Browning for position in the Saudi Arabia F2 Feature race, Alex Dunne went deep at turn 1. Upon the rejoin he left his British rival with nowhere to go except take avoiding action. A penalty was handed out.
Monaco Feature
This was the worst of the lot by a considerable distance.
After Victor Martins got a better launch, polesitter Dunne should have settled in behind him to be P2 out of turn 1. Instead he went for a send that was never on, causing a big accident involving almost half the grid in the process.
The French driver was livid to be taken out. He had every right to be.
It was a moment where the F2 championship and long game in the race itself needed to be thought of by Alex Dunne. He made a bad choice on that Sunday.
Spain practice
On top of his 10-place penalty for the Sprint, Alex Dunne picked up an extra 3-place drop for that and the Feature. Practicing an aggressive entry for the pit limiter line, he hit the back of Victor Martins’ ART. He was very apologetic about it after making a bad mistake.
The good
Despite the lows, there has been many highs for Alex Dunne as well. He has shown very impressive speed and delivered quite a few good results.
Two F2 Feature race wins at Bahrain and Imola as Alex Dunne makes history for Ireland
Starting 4th on the grid for the Bahrain F2 Feature, a masterful display of speed saw Alex Dunne win the race by 8.3s from Luke Browning. It marked the first time since 1979 that an Irish driver won a race at Formula Two level.
A couple of rounds later, he won again at Imola. A Safety Car mid-race left him and all his rivals in a pack behind cars that had not stopped yet. Like a perfect surgeon, Dunne carved his way through them and created a big gap to Luke Browning in the process, taking a superb victory in the end.
Australia Sprint
Despite the fact Alex Dunne did not score any points in the opening race of the 2025 F2 season, this was a seriously impressive drive by the young Offaly man.
From 16th on the grid following a ten-place grid drop for a rule breach by Rodin Motorsport during testing, Dunne went on a charge to 9th on his F2 debut. He made turn 11 his own with lots of superb late braking moves, including on Arvid Lindblad.
Spain Sprint
Following a P19 start after the aforementioned reasons for his 13-place grid drop, Alex Dunne got some fortune with the Safety Car, unlike in Bahrain. Mind you, he had already worked his way up to P10 before it, which was already good going.
Along with Richard Verschoor, he stormed through the cars in front at a vast rate of knots. In the end he narrowly missed out on the victory to the Dutchman.
A more consistent balance required to maintain title hopes to Abu Dhabi
As the Austrian GP approaches, Alex Dunne leads the F2 Drivers’ Championship by three points from Richard Verschoor, with Arvid Lindblad a further five back.
Ultimately, however, Dunne must find a better balance to go on and win the championship this year. Aggression and overtaking is very important in Motorsport, but it must come at the right moments in a clean way. He has done that previously many times, too.
The speed has been there to be consistently at the front. It’s up to Rodin to keep delivering a strong car, and to Dunne to deliver the goods on track.
