A bad error of judgement from Alex Dunne in the F2 Feature race at the Monaco GP left his rivals — Victor Martins in particular — irate. It has put the McLaren junior on the back foot heading into the Spanish round this weekend.
What happened
Starting on pole position for the F2 Feature at the Monaco GP on Sunday, the Irish driver had a fantastic opportunity to open up a double-digit lead at the top of the standings. He was three points clear of Luke Browning following the Sprint race.
Off the line, Victor Martins had a better start and clearly held the line going into turn 1. Despite the fact there was no clear gap, Dunne tried to send it down the inside and took the Frenchman out. It caused absolute chaos behind as well with five other drivers retiring. To say it was a low percentage move would be generous.
The French driver was fuming. It was a completely understandable and natural reaction.
While every driver wants to win at Monaco, Dunne made a big error of judgement here and completely forgot about the long game, both in the race and the championship.
Unsurprisingly he was handed a 10-place grid penalty for the Sprint in Spain. In fact he can count himself fortunate it was not for both of them. Three points got added to his licence.
A lucky escape already on Friday for Alex Dunne in F2 qualifying
At the start of Group B qualifying in Monaco, the 19-year-old tried to overtake Rafael Villagómez into the final corner, making contact with the Mexican in the process. Villagómez ended up with a broken front wing. While Dunne went on to take pole as he escaped damage, the Van Amersfoort driver was left stuck in the pits.
The stewards said erratic driving from Villagómez beforehand led to a case of no further action as he tried to hold position. Dunne got lucky here as his desperation for track position got the better of him.
How Alex Dunne can learn from Max Verstappen
When Max Verstappen burst on the Formula 1 scene in 2015, he was unbelievably fast and showed his natural talent immediately. However he got caught up in too many incidents through sheer desperation. Belgium 2016, Hungary 2017 and China 2018 are three examples of that.
Following a crash in FP3 at Monaco in 2018 that meant he missed qualifying, it was a moment that he understood things needed to change to become a World Champion when he got the equipment required. Daniel Ricciardo won that weekend, as he did in China. Both times the Dutchman could have won.
For the most part since then, Verstappen has made far better calls, sometimes taking his medicine and grabbing good points on days when that was the best he could so.
Of course in his championship battles against Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and Lando Norris in 2024 he was not afraid to go to right to the limit or beyond. The problem in the first few seasons was against many drivers, however.
He has now firmly established himself as one of the greatest drivers in F1 history.
Controlled aggression from Alex Dunne key to fighting for F2 championship and keeping F1 dream alive
Like Verstappen in the past, Dunne has got himself into needless wheel-to-wheel controversies in 2025. Incidents across three races (Bahrain Sprint, Jeddah Feature and Monaco Feature) through the opening five events is simply too many. It follows on from some in 2024 in Formula 3, particularly the dangerous rejoin at Silverstone in the Feature race.
There is no doubt that Alex Dunne can overtake cleanly and is superb on the brakes, as he displayed magnificently in the F2 Feature race at Imola, and the Sprint at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Speaking after his F2 Feature race victory at Imola, Dunne reflected on trying to learn from his mistakes.
“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 [Browning].
“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.”
On the evidence of Monaco, he has a long way to go. He is now three points behind Luke Browning following the events of last Sunday. The Brit has not won this season but he keeps picking up podiums and points. That is the key in such a close championship as Leonardo Fornaroli showed in Formula 3 last year.
It’s not all doom and gloom
This writer has followed the career of Alex Dunne very closely since 2022. His speed and talent is unquestionable, along with the sacrifices of his parents and the incredible effort to find sponsors to keep on going racing. He’s a McLaren junior for a reason, and other teams also showed interest in adding him to their academy before the Woking-based squad won out.
Alex Dunne is doing an incredible job of flying the Irish flag proudly on the international stage. In such a minority sport on this island, it’s an achievement that should not be underestimated.
Speaking to this writer in 2022, the Irish driver’s goal was clear: “Formula One is the ultimate goal right now. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.
“The likes of IndyCar is definitely a great route and I’d love to get the opportunity to drive the likes of IndyCar or LMP2 in Le Mans and the IMSA series.
“Those type of things do interest me and I really like the look of them — but that’s kind of something I’d like to do after I’ve reached Formula One.”
Does Alex Dunne have the ability to make Formula 1? Yes.
Can Alex Dunne win the 2025 F2 championship on the evidence of the first five rounds of the season? Yes.
He still has learning to do and make better decisions in key moments to be a title contender all the way through the 2025 F2 campaign.
What you cannot teach is raw speed. Dunne has that in spades.
He must become the complete driver like Verstappen did after his own Monaco episode back in 2018.
Can he learn and do it? Only time will tell. A nation certainly hopes so.
