Dunne dusted off for McLaren FP1 outing at Austrian GP

Method 2 championship chief Alex Dunne will make his Method 1 free apply debut with McLaren on the Austrian Grand Prix, taking Lando Norris’ seat for Friday’s FP1 session.

The Irishman is in his first F2 season, having stepped as much as the sequence with Rodin after a single season of F3. This continues his speedy development by way of the junior sequence ranks, through which he gained 2022’s British F4 championship – he dovetailed this with a season in Italian F4, the place he completed second to Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

This preceded his step as much as the GB3 Championship, the place he completed as runner up in 2023. He joined McLaren’s younger driver scheme in 2024, the place he additionally serves as a reserve driver for the model’s Method E challenge.

With two function race wins, Dunne at the moment sits three factors forward of F2 sequence veteran Richard Verschoor; though liable for a pile-up at this yr’s Monaco function race, he bounced again at Barcelona to retake the championship lead.

The Offaly-born driver has additionally pushed McLaren’s 2023 automotive at Zandvoort as a part of its testing of earlier automobiles (TPC) programme.

“I’ve been getting ready properly for the classes, participating in Testing of Earlier Automobiles checks within the MCL60 and spending time on the simulator, which has been a unbelievable studying expertise,” mentioned Dunne.

Alex Dunne, Rodin Motorsport

Photograph by: Method Motorsport Ltd

“Thanks to Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella] and Alessandro [Alunni Bravi] for his or her religion in me. It’s an important step inside my growth with the McLaren Driver Improvement Programme, and I’m actually excited to hitch the group trackside.”

Stella added: “It’s nice to have the ability to give Alex the chance to run in FP1, and for him to get helpful time behind the wheel of a Method 1 automotive as a part of his growth.

“The group are happy to be working with him extra intently, and for his assist throughout the weekend, the place he can be offering helpful suggestions to assist with the automotive’s set-up.

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“The rookie classes are unbelievable for seeing the expertise of tomorrow and enabling that uncommon probability to get time in a present automotive, so we look ahead to seeing him on observe.”

Dunne’s F2 rival and Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic may even be a part of the FP1 proceedings in Austria, taking Charles Leclerc’s seat for the session.

The Swede will make his second look in lieu of Leclerc; with updates to the FP1 rules for 2025, every race driver should now sit out two rounds every. He took the Monegasque’s seat in Bahrain, the place he positioned 14th within the instances.