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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Rising star Alex Dunne (Photo: Instagram via alexdunneracing)
Offaly native and rising star Alex Dunne has been announced as the first Irish driver to compete in an F1 race weekend in 22 years as he prepares to get behind the wheel for McLaren in Friday's opening session at the Austrian Grand Prix.
On Monday, McLaren named Dunne as Lando Norris' replacement for the first practice at the Red Bull Ring. This will be the 19-year-old's F1 race weekend debut, however he has already been making strides in the F2 championship.
The Offaly driver has attracted plenty of attention so far in F2 and has been part of McLaren's Driver Development Programme since last year.
Now, being the first Irish driver to get behind the wheel of an F1 car for a big race weekend since Ralph Firman in 2003, all eyes will be on Alex Dunne this weekend.
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Alex was born in November, 2005 and hails from Offaly. He pursued karting from a very young age and began his career with Formula 4 as soon as he reached 15-years-old which is the minimum age requirement for that level of driving.
The young driver showed early signs of success, taking pole position and a podium on his single-seater debut in F4. He then continued to advance throughout the British F4 season in 2022.
In the same year, he came second in the Italian F4 and also in the GB3 Championship the following year. McLaren then signed Alex in May 2024 and he progressed to F2 with Rodin Motorsport in 2025.
However, his title fight has not been without controversy as the driver found himself receiving much of the blame for a devasting crash at the first turn of last month's F2 Monaco race which led to a serious pile-up. The McLaren team principal Andrea Stella since said Alex is a 'very talented driver' and that 'Monaco was one of those situations where you can learn a lot.'
The Offaly man is leading the standings ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend following two solid performances in Bahrain and Imola.
At such a young age, Alex is definitely one to watch.
READ NEXT: Irish driver Alex Dunne to make Formula 1 debut at Austrian Grand Prix
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