Alex Dunne


Alexander Dunne is an Irish racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Rodin Motorsport.
Born and raised in County Offaly, Dunne began competitive kart racing aged eight, winning several national titles before progressing to junior formulae in 2021. After debuting in Spanish Championship|Spanish] and ADAC Formula 4 Championship|ADAC Formula 4], he won the 2022 F4 British Championship with Hitech and finished runner-up to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Italian F4 Championship|Italian F4]. He then progressed to GB3 with Hitech, finishing runner-up to Callum Voisin in GB3 Championship|his rookie season]. After a year in FIA Formula 3 Championship|FIA Formula 3], Dunne graduated to FIA Formula 2 in with Rodin, winning multiple races in his rookie campaign.
A member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme from 2024-2025, Dunne made his free practice debut in Formula One at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix with McLaren. He served as a reserve driver for McLaren in Formula E for the season, prior to the team's withdrawal from the series. He was released from the team prior to the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix.

Racing career

Karting

Dunne began karting at the age of eight, taking a number of victories in local competitions. He would then progress to national competitions in 2015, winning the Motorsport Ireland 'IRL' and '0' Plates and also taking home the Ironside Trophy. That year he would also make his first competitive appearance outside of Ireland, racing in the Super 1 National Championship in the United Kingdom. Following two years of competing across Ireland and Great Britain, Dunne started racing in mainland Europe in 2018. He remained in European karting until 2020, with his highlight being winning the WSK Champions Cup in the OK-Junior class in 2019.

Formula 4

2021

Dunne made his single-seater racing debut in 2021, racing for Pinnacle Motorsport in the F4 Spanish Championship. His season started out in positive fashion, as he scored a pole position on debut in Spa-Francorchamps. Despite having fallen back to fifth owing to a poor start, finished third in his first ever race. Following the round, Dunne would only score twice in the next two rounds that he competed in. Following the Portimão round, Dunne and the team parted ways, leaving the Irishman 16th in the overall standings with 30 points at the end of the season.
It was announced in September of the same year that Dunne would be joining US Racing as part of their ADAC F4 Championship line-up. At his first round at the Hockenheimring, the Irish driver had an impressive debut, picking up two second places. His next appearance at the track yielded a pair of pole positions, although that round brought a retirement and two fourth places. He finished eighth in the standings with 76 points, beating a number of full-time competitors.

2022

At the beginning of 2022, Dunne competed in the F4 UAE Championship for Hitech GP in preparation for his European campaign. He would achieve his first ever win in car racing during the third at the Dubai Autodrome through unusual circumstances, as, during a red flag, all drivers bar Dunne parked up in the pitlane instead of the start/finish straight, giving them all a five-second penalty. Despite being overtaken by Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the restart, the Irishman remained closely behind the Italian to inherit the victory. After a third place rostrum during the third Dubai round, Dunne won another race during the third race of the final round at the Yas Marina Circuit, he would follow this up with a third place during the last race. Dunne finished sixth in the standings, having scored two wins, four podiums and 168 points.
For his European season, Dunne stayed with US Racing to compete in the Italian F4 Championship, partnering Kacper Sztuka, Marcus Amand, Pedro Perino and Nikhil Bohra. In the first round of the campaign at Imola, Dunne amassed a triple of podiums, having overtaken PHM Racing's Nikita Bedrin in the dying embers of Race 1 to pick up second place and having stormed to the front in Race 2, he held off a fast-charging Rafael Câmara until the checkered flag for the win. Despite losing control of the car in Race 3 after hitting a sausage kerb on lap one, the Irishman was able to recover to third. However, despite a podium at Misano and another one at Spa-Francorchamps, he would be shuffled out of the top two in the championship, being overtaken by Prema drivers Rafael Câmara and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Dunne returned to winning ways at the Red Bull Ring, taking two victories and an additional podium, thus narrowing the gap to his two competitors. However, despite three second-placed finishes in the remaining two events, Dunne would have to settle for second in the standings, with Antonelli having attained an unassailable lead during the season finale.
During the same year, Dunne also raced in the British F4 series with Hitech. He started his season out in commanding fashion, winning the pair of main races at the season opener at Donington Park, whilst taking second in the reversed-grid race. The following round at Brands Hatch would provide mixed results, as despite a dominant win in Race 1, Dunne ended up finishing out of the points in both other races. Round 3 at the Thruxton Circuit would once again bring success, with the Irishman winning races 1 and 3 and extending his championship lead, having experienced a hard battle with Carlin driver Ugo Ugochukwu on Saturday. Dunne once again won the opening race at the next round held at Oulton Park, but he would only finish third in Race 3, having lost out to Louis Sharp and Oliver Gray at the start. The Irish driver experienced a difficult start to the event in Croft, finishing seventh in Race 1, although Dunne was able to take advantage from a stall by poleman Georgi Dimitrov in Race 2 to take victory. In Sunday's main race, which Dunne started from tenth, he clawed his way back to third place by the checkered flag, with his closest championship rival Gray closing the gap between the pair by winning the race. After a less successful round at Knockhill, Dunne bounced back with a pair of victories in the main races at Snetterton and Thruxton respectively, thus setting a new record for most victories in a single British F4 season. At the penultimate round in Silverstone, Dunne finished on the podium in Race 1 despite being involved in a collision with Gray, and took another third place in the final race of the event. Despite missing the final round, instead having chosen to complete his campaign in Italian F4, Dunne was crowned champion on the final weekend, with his points gap having been insurmountable. Throughout the season, Dunne secured eleven wins, eleven poles, seventeen podiums and 412 points.
At the end of the season, Dunne took part in the F4 UAE Trophy Round with Hitech, finishing second and tenth in the races.

Formula Regional

At the beginning of 2023, Dunne competed in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, for the final two rounds. However, he did not partake in any rounds.

GB3

For the 2023 season, Dunne progressed to the GB3 Championship, returning to Hitech Grand Prix. Dunne began the season with solid points finishes in Oulton Park, and improved his pace in Silverstone with a fourth and sixth place. Dunne tasted success the next round in Spa-Francorchamps, where he clinched his first GB3 victories during Races 1 and 2. However, he only netted one podium in the following three rounds, in which he admitted that he had "difficult title hopes" after the Brands Hatch round. Dunne did bounce back during the penultimate round in Zandvoort where he claimed a double victory, closing the gap to leader Callum Voisin. Dunne notched up a third-place podium and another win in Donington Park, however he ultimately missed out on the title to Voisin by 18 points. Despite that, Dunne still finished runner-up in the standings with 466 points, having taken five wins all season.

Macau Grand Prix

2023

Dunne joined Hitech Pulse-Eight to make his debut at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix. Dunne impressed on his initial runs coming fifth in Q1, eventually leaving him in sixth for the qualifying race. He had a great start and moved to third early on in the qualification race, before overtaking Gabriele Minì on the safety car restart to finish second. However, misery would pile in the main race as he crashed out on the first lap, misjudging his braking point while trying to overtake Luke Browning for the lead.

2024

Dunne returned to the Macau Grand Prix in 2024, albeit in Formula Regional machinery, with SJM Theodore Prema Racing. He qualified 18th due to an unavoidable crash, but improved in the main race, taking advantage of rivals' mishaps to finish in a respectable sixth place.

Formula 3

Dunne joined MP Motorsport for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, completing the team's lineup alongside Red Bull juniors Kacper Sztuka and Tim Tramnitz. He scored points during the Bahrain opener, as Dunne moved up the order from 14th to finish ninth in the feature race. He scored more points in Melbourne with seventh place during the sprint race. In Imola Formula 3 round|Imola], Dunne was set to qualify fifth; his first top-12 in qualifying but was disqualified due to a non-conformity with the front anti-roll bar links. He recovered a total of thirty places in both races, but did not score points. Another disappointing weekend followed in Monaco followed, where Dunne was eliminated in a multi-car collision during lap 1 of the sprint race. However, his big break came in the Barcelona sprint race, where Dunne secured his first podium in F3 with second place, having fought for the lead with Mari Boya. He had a solid feature race, improving two places to finish in seventh.
In Austria, Dunne had another good weekend, finishing fourth in the sprint despite a slight collision with Sebastián Montoya, and tenth in the feature race. However, Dunne experienced a bruising weekend in Silverstone, as he was involved in a collision with Charlie Wurz during the sprint, while he was an innocent bystander in a collision with Montoya and Joshua Dufek. Dunne also received a ten-place grid drop for Hungary for re-joining onto the track in an unsafe manner. Dunne secured a front row start in Spa-Francorchamps. In the feature race, Dunne dropped two places at the start, and a mistake into the gravel on the safety car restart further lost him places and he fell to tenth at the flag. He qualified on the front row once again for the Monza finale. He had a strong sprint race, carefully overtaking his rivals to finish fourth on the road, but was promoted to the rostrum after a penalty for Montoya. Dunne momentarily led the feature race for the first few laps, but eventually slipped down the order and finished fourth. Dunne finished 14th in the drivers' standings with 50 points, ahead of Sztuka but behind Tramnitz.

Formula 2

2025

Dunne took part in the post-season Formula 2 test in Abu Dhabi with Rodin Motorsport.
In February 2025, Dunne was confirmed to drive for Rodin Motorsport during the full 2025 Formula 2 season, partnering Amaury Cordeel. His first win of the season came in the Bahrain feature race, where he crossed the line more than eight seconds ahead of Luke Browning after starting from fourth. Two rounds later in Imola, he repeated the feat, this time winning from fifth on the grid. He left Imola in the championship lead, six points ahead of Browning. In Monaco, he took his first pole position in the series by 0.003 seconds over Victor Martins after colliding with Rafael Villagómez at Antony Noghès. In the feature race, he caused an 11-car pileup at Sainte Dévote after Martins overtook him off-the-line, for which he received a 10-place grid penalty. Dunne was Disqualified from the Austrian Grand Prix for a breach of the FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations, specifically excessive front plank wear, with a maximum thickness of 3.37mm and 3.27mm at the periphery of two of the designated holes, an error by Rodin. He then finished second at Silverstone. He then took pole position at Spa Francorchamps and went on to win the feature race, but was handed a post-race 10-second penalty for failing to engage the start set-up procedure behind the safety car. Dunne would score 3 more podium finishes to end the season in 5th place in the drivers' standings.

2026

In December 2025, it was announced that Dunne had re-signed with Rodin Motorsport to compete in the 2026 season, partnering Martinius Stenshorne.

Formula E

In January 2025, Dunne was announced as the reserve and development driver for McLaren Formula E Team. He made his debut in Formula E machinery during the rookie practice session for the Jeddah ePrix.
Dunne took part in the Berlin rookie test at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit in July later that year alongside fellow McLaren development driver Ella Lloyd.

Formula One

In September 2022, Dunne took part in a scouting camp conducted by the Ferrari Driver Academy. Ahead of the 2024 Imola Formula 3 round in May, Dunne was announced to be joining the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
In May 2025, Dunne conducted his first test run in a McLaren Formula 1 car, driving the McLaren MCL60 at Circuit Zandvoort. He later drove the car once again a month later at the Circuit of the Americas.
In June 2025, during the, Dunne took part in his first practice session for the team, driving Lando Norris's McLaren MCL39, where he set the fourth-fastest lap, 0.224 seconds off the leading time. He took part in his second practice session, and his last for McLaren, in place of Oscar Piastri during the.
Prior to the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren announced Dunne had been released from the programme.

Personal life

Dunne is the son of Noel Dunne, a former racing driver who won the Irish Formula Ford F1600 series on two occasions.

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021PosPoints
2021Pinnacle MotorsportSPA
1
3		SPA
2
5		SPA
3
25		NAV
1
14		NAV
2
14		NAV
3
7		ALG
1
10		ALG
2
15		ALG
3
Ret		ARA
1		ARA
2		ARA
3		CRT
1		CRT
2		CRT
3		JER
1		JER
2		JER
3		CAT
1		CAT
2		CAT
3		16th30

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718PosPoints
2021US RacingRBR
1		RBR
2		RBR
3		ZAN
1		ZAN
2		ZAN
3		HOC1
1
2		HOC1
2
2		HOC1
3
DNS		SAC
1		SAC
2		SAC
3		HOC2
1
Ret		HOC2
2
4		HOC2
3
4		NÜR
1
4		NÜR
2
15†		NÜR
3
8		8th76

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617181920PosPoints
2022Hitech Grand PrixYMC1
1
4		YMC1
2
9		YMC1
3
23		YMC1
4
10		DUB1
1
9		DUB1
2
6		DUB1
3
6		DUB1
4
21		DUB2
1
8		DUB2
2
8		DUB2
3
8		DUB2
4
1		DUB3
1
4		DUB3
2
3		DUB3
3
7		DUB3
4
9		YMC2
1
4		YMC2
2
5		YMC2
3
1		YMC2
4
3		6th168

Complete F4 British Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930DCPoints
2022Hitech Grand PrixDON
1
1		DON
2
27		DON
3
1		BHI
1
1		BHI
2
14		BHI
3
14		THR1
1
1		THR1
2
55		THR1
3
1		OUL
1
1		OUL
2
91		OUL
3
3		CRO
1
7		CRO
2
11		CRO
3
3		KNO
1
2		KNO
2
4		KNO
3
14		SNE
1
1		SNE
2
64		SNE
3
1		THR2
1
1		THR2
2
10		THR2
3
1		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
11		SIL
3
3		BHGP
1		BHGP
2		BHGP
3		1st412

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

YearTeam12345678910111213141516171819202122DCPoints
2022US RacingIMO
1
2		IMO
2
1		IMO
3
3		MIS
1
3		MIS
2
33†		MIS
3
7		SPA
1
10		SPA
2
2		SPA
3
5		VLL
1
4		VLL
2
4		VLL
3
Ret		RBR
1
1		RBR
2
3		RBR
3		RBR
4
1		MNZ
1
2		MNZ
2
6		MNZ
3
C		MUG
1
2		MUG
2
2		MUG
3
Ret		2nd258

Complete GB3 Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
2023Hitech Grand PrixOUL
1
6		OUL
2
13		OUL
3
109		SIL1
1
4		SIL1
2
Ret		SIL1
3
612		SPA
1
1		SPA
2
1		SPA
3
618		SNE
1
4		SNE
2
2		SNE
3
129		SIL2
1
5		SIL2
2
6		SIL2
3
C		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
4		BRH
3
118		ZAN
1
1		ZAN
2
1		ZAN
3
168		DON
1
3		DON
2
1		DON
3
911		2nd466

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2024MP MotorsportBHR
SPR
12		BHR
FEA
9		MEL
SPR
7		MEL
FEA
16		IMO
SPR
14		IMO
FEA
16		MON
SPR
Ret		MON
FEA
16		CAT
SPR
2		CAT
FEA
7		RBR
SPR
4		RBR
FEA
10		SIL
SPR
22		SIL
FEA
Ret		HUN
SPR
20		HUN
FEA
16		SPA
SPR
23		SPA
FEA
10		MNZ
SPR
3		MNZ
FEA
4		14th50

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728Points
Rodin Motorsport
Rodin MotorsportMEL
SPR
MEL
FEA
BHR
SPR
BHR
FEA
JED
SPR
JED
FEA
MON
SPR
MON
FEA
CAT
SPR
CAT
FEA
RBR
SPR
RBR
FEA
SIL
SPR
SIL
FEA
SPA
SPR
SPA
FEA
HUN
SPR
HUN
FEA
MNZ
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MAD
SPR
MAD
FEA
BAK
SPR
BAK
FEA
LSL
SPR
LSL
FEA
YMC
SPR
YMC
FEA
TBDTBD

Season still in progress.

Complete Formula One participations

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415161718192021222324Points
McLaren F1 TeamMcLaren MCL39Mercedes-AMG M16 E Performance 1.6 V6 tAUSCHNJPNBHRSAUMIAEMIMONESPCANGBRBELHUNNEDAZESINUSAMXCSAPLVGQATABU––