McLaren junior ‘should be ready’ as F1 2026 declaration made

McLaren junior racer Alex Dunne believes he’s on course to be ready for F1 in 2026 if an opportunity presents itself.

The Irish driver has been the stand-out performer of the Formula 2 championship this season, having moved into the lead of the standings after winning the Feature race at Spa before a later penalty shuffled him backwards.

Alex Dunne: My best F1 opportunity will be by winning F2

Stepping up into F2 with Rodin Motorsport this year, Dunne has been consistently at the sharp end of the field and took his maiden win in the series in the Feature race in Bahrain.

Following this up with a second Feature race victory at Imola, Dunne has had some misfortunes in recent events as he was disqualified from second place in Austria for excessive plank wear.

This was followed up by a procedural transgression at Spa, when the stewards investigated Dunne for a failure to engage the correct start set-up procedure ahead of the Feature Race, which the Rodin driver had won in convincing fashion.

The two disqualifications alone have cost Dunne some 43 points, meaning what could have been a healthy lead in the championship is instead a deficit as the Irish driver is currently ranked fourth overall, 10 points behind Leonardo Fornaroli.

As a McLaren junior, Dunne’s performance in first practice in Austria captured widespread attention as he all but matched the pace of the experienced Oscar Piastri.

But with Piastri and Lando Norris on long-term contracts at McLaren, there is little chance of Dunne finding a way into Formula 1 with the Woking-based squad – at least for 2026.

However, there are still vacant cockpits to be filled at several other teams on the grid, including Alpine, Cadillac, and Racing Bulls.

Asked by PlanetF1.com whether he believes he deserves to be on the F1 grid next season, and whether he is engaging in talks with other teams, Dunne smiled: “I don’t know how much I can answer!”

As a strong contender for the F2 championship, victory in the series would likely lead to a year on the sidelines if an F1 cockpit can’t be found – once a Champion in the category, a driver can’t continue racing in this junior series.

Theoretically, with no obvious route into F1 at present, Dunne finishing as runner-up would prevent him hitting a potential dead end, but the Irishman said his aim remains the same.

“I’ve said very clearly at the beginning of the year and throughout the year, particularly after I did my FP1 in Austria, that I think regardless of whether there’s a seat in McLaren or anywhere else, whatever it may be, I think, for me, the best opportunity I’m going to give myself a being an F1 driver is making sure I win F2,” he said.

“For me, that’s the sole goal of the minute. That’s all I can really focus on. Realistically, the rest of it is out of my control.

“That’s why you have people around you to manage those things and try and put you in the correct position.

“I’d like to say that my performance in FP1 in Austria was a showing that I’m capable of driving an F1 car.

“I think every time I’ve driven the car since then, I’ve gone better and better.

“Of course, I wouldn’t say I’m ready for F1, there’s still a lot of things to learn, but I think every time I’ve been in the car, I’ve been fast, and we’re doing the same in F2 at the moment.

“So I think, if we can continue that, then I’d like to say that, for next year, I should be ready for F1.”

Until Dunne was disqualified from the Spa feature race, it had been his third win in nine such races, underlining what has been a strong first year in F2.

Leading at the front at Spa in wet and tricky low-visibility conditions, it marked his first wet race ‘victory’ in F2, with his wins in Bahrain and Imola coming in warm, sunny, and clear conditions.

Asked how he believes his versatility has improved during this season in the category, Dunne said he believes adaptability has always been one of his strong points.

“From different conditions to driving different cars, whatever it may be, I felt like I’ve always adapted relatively well and quite quickly,” he said.

“But a lot of this year has also gone down to the how much McLaren and Rodin have helped me.

“I look through a lot of things with them to improve all areas of myself as a driver, what I can do better in certain scenarios – if I do something different, how will it turn out, and different things like that.

“So I’ve really focused on improving all areas to make sure that we hit the ground running in F2 and so I’m happy that we’ve been quick in all conditions.

“Silverstone was my first time in F2 in the rain, and it went well, and it’s gone well again this weekend. So I’m very happy that we have the pace in all conditions.

“I think it shows not only me, but it shows I have the car to do it as well, which is exactly what you need.”

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