Alex Dunne

Alex Dunne
Dunne in 2022
Nationality	Irish
Born	(2005-11-11) 11 November 2005 (age 19) Offaly, Ireland
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2025
Current team	Rodin
Car number	9
Starts	0 (0 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	TBD in 2025
Previous series
2023 2022 2022 2022 2021 2021	GB3 Championship F4 British Championship Italian F4 Championship Formula 4 UAE Championship ADAC Formula 4 F4 Spanish Championship
Championship titles
2022	F4 British

Alexander Dunne (born 11 November 2005) is an Irish racing driver who most recently competed in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with MP Motorsport. He previously won the 2022 F4 British Championship, and was the 2023 GB3 runner-up with Hitech. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

He is a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.

Career

Karting

Dunne began karting at the age of eight, taking a number of victories in local competitions. ^[4] 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 on the British Isles, Dunne started racing in mainland Europe in 2018. He would stay in European karting until 2020, with his highlight being winning the WSK Champions Cup in 2019. ^[5]

Formula 4

2021

Dunne made his single-seater racing debut in 2021, racing for Pinnacle Motorsport in the F4 Spanish Championship. ^[6] His season started out in positive fashion, as he scored a pole position on debut and, having fallen back to fifth owing to a poor start, finished third in his first ever race. ^[7] However, following just three rounds him and the team parted ways, leaving the Irishman 16th in the overall standings by season's end.

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. ^[8] At his first round at the Hockenheimring, the Irish driver picked up two second places, with his next appearance at the track yielding a pair of pole positions. He finished eighth in the standings, beating a number of full-time competitors.

2022

Dunne driving at the Red Bull Ring during the 2022 Italian F4 Championship.

At the beginning of 2022, Dunne competed in the F4 UAE Championship for Hitech GP in preparation for his European campaign. ^[9] He would achieve his first ever win in car racing 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. ^[10] Despite being overtaken by Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the restart, the Irishman remained closely behind the Italian to take victory. He would win another race during the final round of the championship, as he finished sixth in the standings.

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. ^[11] 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, holding off a fast-charging Rafael Câmara until the checkered flag. ^[12] 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. The Irishman came back to winning ways at the Red Bull Ring, taking two victories and an additional podium, thus narrowing the gap to his two competitors. ^[13] 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. ^[14] 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. ^[15] 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. ^[16] 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. ^[17] Dunne once again won the opening race at the next round held at Oulton Park, ^[18] but he would only finish third in Race 3, having lost out to Louis Sharp and Oliver Gray at the start. ^[19] The Irish driver experienced a difficult start to the event at 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. ^[20] 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. ^[21] 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. ^{[22] [23]} At the penultimate round in Silvestone, 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. ^{[24] [25]} Despite missing the final round, instead having chosen to complete his campaign in Italian F4, Dunne was crowned champion at the final weekend, with his points gap having been insurmountable. ^[26]

GB3

For the 2023 season, Dunne progressed to the GB3 Championship, returning to Hitech Grand Prix. ^{[27] [28]} At the beginning of his season, he competed in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, for the final two rounds. ^[29]

Macau Grand Prix

After his first weekend venture in an F3 car at Imola, in which he set the fastest time on a rain affected test, Dunne finished first, over six seconds ahead of the man that beat him to the GB3 Championship, Callum Voisin, impressing many fans and sponsorship teams alike. ^[30] This led to him gaining a place for the Hitech Pulse-Eight team at the aclaimed Macau Grand Prix. Dunne impressed on his initial runs coming 5th in Q1, ^[31] 6th in Q2, ^[32] eventually leaving him in 6th for the qualifying race. In which he swiftly moved up to 2nd thanks to a brave move on Gabriele Minì. He remained there, thanks to a stellar drive from teammate Luke Browning. ^[33] However, misery would pile in the main race as he crashed out, misjudging his braking point while trying to overtake Browning. ^[34]

Dunne returned to the Macau Grand Prix in 2024, albeit in Formula Regional machinery, with SJM Theodore Prema Racing, qualifying in 18th place and finishing 6th in the race.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Dunne driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2024 Spielberg Formula 3 round

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. ^[35]

FIA Formula 2 Post-Season Testing 2024

It was announce that he would be part taking in the post-season Formula 2 test in Abu Dhabi with Rodin Motorsport. ^[36]

Formula One

Ahead of the 2024 Imola Formula 3 round in May, Dunne was announced to be joining the McLaren Driver Development Programme. ^[37]

Personal life

He is the son of Noel Dunne, a former racing driver who won the Irish Formula Ford F1600 series on two occasions. ^[38]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2015	Motorsport Ireland ‘IRL’ Plate		1st
	Motorsport Ireland ‘0’ Plate		1st
	T. Rogers Memorial Cup		1st
	Ironside Trophy		1st
	Super 1 National Championship — IAME Cadet		42nd
2016	LGM Series — IAME Cadet		20th
	Motorsport Ireland ‘0’ Plate		1st
2017	LGM Series — IAME Cadet		2nd
	ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK		5th
	Super 1 National Championship — IAME Cadet		4th
	Kartmasters British Grand Prix — IAME Cadet	Primo Racing	3rd
2018	WSK Champions Cup — OKJ	Forza Racing	NC
	WSK Super Master Series — OKJ		15th
	WSK Open Cup — OKJ		26th
	CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ		37th
	CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ		11th
	IAME International Final — X30 Junior		11th
	WSK Final Cup — OKJ		29th
2019	WSK Champions Cup — OKJ	Forza Racing	1st
	South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ		31st
	WSK Super Master Series — OKJ		40th
	Coupe de France — OKJ		22nd
	Italian Championship — OKJ		10th
	CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ	Tony Kart Racing Team	7th
	WSK Euro Series — OKJ		11th
	CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ		NC
2020	WSK Euro Series — OK	DR Srl	57th
	CIK-FIA European Championship — OK	Birel ART Racing Srl	25th
	Champions of the Future — OK		21st
	CIK-FIA World Championship — OK	Energy Corse Srl	26th
	WSK Open Cup — OK		17th
Sources: [39] [40]

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2018	Forza Racing	OKJ	SAR QH 40	SAR R DNQ	PFI QH 18	PFI R 24	AMP QH 23	AMP R 19	LEM QH 9	LEM R 28	37th	2
2019	Tony Kart Racing Team	OKJ	ANG QH 12	ANG R 7	GEN QH 2	GEN R 2	KRI QH 12	KRI R 11	LEM QH 12	LEM R 29	7th	43
2020	Birel ART Racing Srl	OK	ZUE QH 8	ZUE R 33	SAR QH 12	SAR R 22	WAC QH	WAC R			25th	3

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2021	F4 Spanish Championship	Pinnacle Motorsport	9	0	1	0	1	30	16th
	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	US Racing	8	0	2	3	2	76	8th
2022	F4 British Championship	Hitech Grand Prix	27	11	11	11	17	412	1st
	Formula 4 UAE Championship		20	2	0	1	4	168	6th
	Formula 4 UAE Championship - Trophy Round		2	0	1	0	1	N/A	NC
	Italian F4 Championship	US Racing	20	3	1	3	11	258	2nd
2023	GB3 Championship	Hitech Grand Prix	23	5	1	8	7	466	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix	Hitech Pulse-Eight	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2024	FIA Formula 3 Championship	MP Motorsport	20	0	0	0	2	50	14th
	Macau Grand Prix	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Pos	Points
2021	Pinnacle Motorsport	SPA 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	16th	30

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2021	US Racing	RBR 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	8th	76

Complete F4 UAE Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Points
2022	Hitech Grand Prix	YMC1 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	6th	168

Complete F4 British Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	DC	Points
2022	Hitech Grand Prix	DON 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	1st	412

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2022	US Racing	IMO 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	2nd	258

Complete GB3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2023	Hitech Grand Prix	OUL 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	2nd	466

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2023	Hitech Pulse-Eight	Dallara F3 2019	6th	2nd	DNF
2024	SJM Theodore Prema Racing	Tatuus F3 T-318	18th	12th	6th

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2024	MP Motorsport	BHR 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	14th	50

References

1. Quinn, Trevor (27 April 2022). "Meet the Irish teen who wants to be Formula One's next big star". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
2. Briscoe, Neil (20 April 2022). "Ireland's next motor racing star: 'I originally started at the age of nine'". The Irish Times . Retrieved 12 May 2022.
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20. Meaden, Damian (25 June 2022). "Dunne races clear to victory in reverse grid contest". F4 Championship. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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31. https://www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/uploads/attachment/2023-11/3320f07ec69a682045dc3e18ddfb3561.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
32. https://www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/uploads/attachment/2023-11/0ed6d7b564c841a638e04dd577c225cf.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
33. https://www.gb-3.net/news/2023/nov/18/brilliant-browning-wins-macau-gp-qualifying-race-ahead-of-dunne ^{[ bare URL ]}
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36. Allen, Peter (10 December 2024). "Alex Dunne joins F2 field for post-season test in Abu Dhabi". Formula Scout. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
37. "Formula 3 drivers Dunne and Stenshorne join McLaren Driver Development programme". Formula 1 . 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
38. "Meath teenager Alex Dunne eyes Formula One future after encouraging season". SportsJoe . 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
39. "Alex Dunne | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
40. Kartcom (27 June 2020). "Dunne Alexander" . Retrieved 6 May 2022.

External links

• Alex Dunne career summary at DriverDB.com