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Rising Irish star Alex Dunne, 19, set for huge breakthrough towards Formula 1 dreams as McLaren reveals Austria GP plans
RISING Irish driver Alex Dunne will make the biggest breakthrough in his dream of racing in Formula 1 at this weekend's Austrian GP.
The
star
2
Alex Dunne will take part in the first free practice session before this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix
2
He will be filling in for Lando Norris, left
Credit: PA
In getting behind the wheel, Dunne will be involved in his first-ever
He will be the first Irish driver to participate in a Formula 1 weekend in 22 years since England-born Ralph Firman in 2003.
And the starlet said: 'It's an amazing opportunity to be able to drive during FP1 in
"I'm really looking forward to getting laps in behind the wheel of the MCL39 and supporting the team with the setup for the
race
weekend ahead.
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'I've been preparing well for the sessions, taking part in Testing of Previous
Cars
tests in the MCL60 and spending time on the simulator, which has been a fantastic learning experience.
"Thank you to Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella] and Alessandro [Alunni Bravi] for their faith in me.
"It's a great step within my development with the McLaren Driver Development Programme, and I'm really excited to join the team trackside.'
Dunne's star has been rising ever since making his Formula 2 debut earlier this year.
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The 19-year-old - who signed with McLaren last May - made a dream start to the 2025 season with victory in Bahrain, becoming
After being involved in a dramatic 11-car crash in Monaco, in which no drivers were hurt, he bounced back by coming second in the sprint race in
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That podium finish saw Dunne take the outright lead in the Formula 2
Championship
, further growing his reputation within McLaren.
Team Principal Andrea Stella said: 'It's great to be able to give Alex the opportunity to run in Free Practice 1, and for him to get valuable time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car as part of his development.
"The team are pleased to be working with him more closely, and for his support across the weekend, where he will be providing useful feedback to help with the car's set-up.
"The rookie sessions are fantastic for seeing the talent of tomorrow and enabling that rare chance to get time in a current car, so we look forward to seeing him on track.'
Rookies are to be given more opportunities in the F1 under the new rulings made out at the start of the season.
Teams have had to run a rookie at least once in each of their cars – so on two occasions in total – each season since 2022.
But as of this year, that number increases to twice per car.
With each team made up of two cars, that means four occasions during the year when they will run an inexperienced driver for the first practice session of a weekend.
UPS AND DOWNS
Dunne follows in the footsteps of teammate Pato O'Ward who was announced to be representing McLaren in the
Mexico
City Grand Prix FP1 in October.
Due to the new ruling there are still another two FP1 places for McLaren rookies up for grabs.
If Dunne impresses in his debut, he could find himself back behind an F1 wheel later in the season.
This season, while exceptional so far, has had it's ups and downs for Dunne, who spoke of
social media
abuse he received after the crash in Monaco.
Eight drivers were forced to retire after the incident unfolded with F1
TV
footage capturing the shocking pile-up.
There were no serious injuries to any of the drivers, but the incident caused a lengthy delay before racing eventually resumed.
The young star
He told The Race: 'I got a lot of stuff after Monaco.
"Normally I'm not someone who reads things and gets annoyed by them.
'But, I think an hour after the race, I deleted social media off my phone because I've ever received such bad messages in my life.
'A lot of the stuff I got was really, really bad and quite upsetting to be honest."
