Ireland’s Alex Dunne heads into his second F2 season in 2026 and is expected to be a championship contender. In his rookie season in 2025, the Rodin Motorsport driver showed a lot of pace, although it did not always translate into big results.
Dunne happy with progress at the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of 2026 F2 season
Pre-season testing for Formula 2 took place last week. While Rafael Câmara was incredibly strong through days 2 and 3, his former rival from Italian F4 was pleased with the progress Rodin Motorsport made through those three days.
In F2 qualifying at the Spanish GP last year, Dunne qualifed in P5. However, he felt they were a step behind the top runners that weekend. Now at Racing Bulls in F1, Arvid Lindblad took the pole and win.
Before it was confirmed his car was underweight and lost his times, Dunne had been P3 overall on day 2 when they did qualifying simulations. Day 3 did not see Rodin do a low fuel qualifying attempt.
“I think the test in Barcelona was strong. Barcelona was one of our weaker tracks, let’s say, last year,” he told Pit Debrief and other media outlets during a F2 pre-season media session.
“I mean, we still qualified P5, but I think in comparison to the pole lap time, I think we were still missing a little bit of performance. So I think we managed to improve that during the test.
“I was really, really happy with the pace, to be honest. And I think we were right there at the end.
“So I think it’s more just trying to improve the little things that we felt could have been better from last year.”
Consistency is key for Alex Dunne in 2026 F2 season
For most of 2025, the former McLaren junior was extremely fast as Rodin Motorsport delivered him a strong package. He took poles at Monaco and Spa. Dunne scored fantastic victories in the Bahrain and Imola Feature races, too.
Nonetheless, he had too many incidents. At times he was at fault, while in others he was taken out. It hampered his championship chances. He had been leading the standings on two separate occasions early in the year.
Towards the end of the year, Rodin did not look quite as competitive as in the first half of the year, particularly in Hungary and Abu Dhabi. Yas Marina was the only time in 2025 the driver from Offaly qualified outside the top 10. Ultimately he had to settle for a relatively distant P5 in the standings.
Alex Dunne explained how important consistency will be as he looks to mount a championship charge through the whole of the 2026 F2 season.
“I think it [2025] was a strong year.
“I was very, very happy up until Monza and then probably less happy tailing off the end of the year.
“But I think the biggest thing for me is probably consistency. I think in some scenarios I could have been a little bit more consistent.
“But I think there was also a lot of things that was unlucky and out of our control. Of course, being lucky or unlucky is something that you can’t necessarily control.
“I don’t want to be in a position where I’m fighting for the championship again this year and I have to put it down to luck. You also need to put yourself in positions where you can control that yourself and make it a little bit easier to keep yourself out of trouble, let’s say.”
Controlling the controllables
“But I think it’s just focusing on what we can do. Our performances, I think in general, were really strong throughout the year and our pace was always there.
“I think realistically, if nothing weird was happening during the weekend, we were always in the fight for top three in the feature race or the win even as well.
“So I think it’s just focusing on continuing to have those strong performances and those high moments through the year, because I think that’s kind of what builds a gap in the championship. But also then when there’s weekends where we’re not doing quite as well as we wanted, it’s important to just try and extract the most out of it.”
Alex Dunne on staying with Rodin Motorsport for a second F2 campaign in 2026
Following great success at Hitech in British F4 and GB3 through 2022 and 2023, Dunne joined MP Motorsport for the 2024 F3 season. It was his toughest season in car racing to date, finishing in 14th place.
His move up to Formula 2 saw Dunne sign for Rodin Motorsport. They gelled very well together. The partnership continues into 2026.
Asked by Pit Debrief how important it was to stay with Rodin Motorsport and having continuity heading into 2026, Alex Dunne talked about the family atmosphere he felt within the team. He also outlined how important that is to him personally.
“I think it was definitely the right decision to stay with Rodin.
“I think relationships in motorsport are a very, very big thing in success. And I think I now have a really, really strong relationship with the whole team. All the mechanics, my engineer, the team managers, even Martinius [Stenshorne] as well.
“I think the whole vibe and how well everyone gets on within the team is really, really nice. And I think that naturally makes you want to go out and do a better job.
“And then also the team want the best for you as well. So I think staying with Rodin was definitely the best choice.
“And I’m really, really happy with how well we work with everyone because it kind of feels a bit more like a family environment within the team, which I think for me individually, that’s something that I really, really like to have as a relationship with teams. I feel that’s kind of just how I work best. So I think to have that with Rodin is really nice.”
Not much needs to change
In terms of what he needs to do differently this year when asked by Pit Debrief, the Irishman says small tweaks will be the key.
Overall he is happy with everything as he looks to compete for the championship this year.
“And then in terms of what I need to change, in a non-arrogant way, I don’t think there’s a whole lot that needs to be changed. Because for the most part, I felt like I did the majority of things well last year.
“There’s just a couple of things that needed to be ironed out and some things that could have been better in different scenarios.
“But I don’t think it’s necessarily one area. It’s just naturally focusing on all the little areas, constantly just trying to be better and better and improving in all the places that I can. I don’t think there’s anything that stands out.
A team leader at Rodin Motorsport this season?
Although teammate and fellow former McLaren Junior Martinius Stenshorne did three rounds at the end of last year, Dunne is the one with more experience in Formula 2.
The Irish driver feels like that is a role he already had last year. Only on one occasion was he outqualified by his teammate, by Amaury Cordeel in Austria.
He explained how leading the team in his direction has been key, allowing him to get what he needs from a racing car to perform at his best.
“Well, I think a team leader position is kind of one that I felt like I was already in.
“I felt like I’ve always kind of been very strong in the sense that I like to try and lead the team in the direction that I want, because I think I have a relatively good understanding of what I and need from the car.
“I feel like we were kind of in that position with the team already, which is when I like, when I feel comfortable in.”
Every driver for themselves below Formula 1
As well as the fact F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport, it is very much different to the junior categories. Until then, drivers have to pay substantial sums for seats in F2, F3 and F4, usually finding sponsors. Alex Dunne is one of those. It’s every driver for themselves.
Asked if he will be helping teammate Martinius Stenshorne to get to grips in F2, the 20-year-old explained how he will be almost solely focusing on himself due to the reasons above. Nonetheless, he will answer questions the Norwegian driver has.
Dunne also added what a strong talent Stenshorne is. He expects their personal friendship to be a big benefit as they drive each other on.
“I’m very good friends with Martinius. We’ve known each other since we were 12. We’re very good friends and we’ve been close for a while.
“Of course, in saying that, we will work together and learn off each other. But at the same time, there’s no real team rules in F2.
“So it’s not like I’ll be massively helping him through a weekend and going through the data with him or anything like that. But of course, sometimes if he has a few questions, I’ll help him out a little bit.
“But at the same time, he doesn’t necessarily need that as well. Martinius is a very good driver. We were at McLaren together as well. And so far, he’s been doing a pretty good job as well.
“So yeah, I think we work well together. It’s cool to have a strong friendship within the team. And I think we’ll push each other forward.”
