Aggressive, fast, talented: Alex Dunne impresses Red Bull – Helmut Marko confirms talks, but there is still one obstacle
Following the surprising end to his collaboration with McLaren, Alexander Dunne could soon be joining Red Bull. Helmut Marko confirms more than clearly that the 19-year-old Irishman is on the team’s radar.
“Alex Dunne is a very fast, aggressive young driver, so he fits in well with Red Bull,” Marko told Sky. “And now that he is completely free, having been released by mutual agreement with McLaren, he is of course someone we will definitely be talking to.”
This is Red Bull’s motorsport advisor’s response to the news that Dunne and McLaren have ended their junior partnership with immediate effect. The youngster, currently in his first Formula 2 season, sees his prospects blocked at the papaya-colored team: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are set to stay there long term.
Dunne is considered fast and, above all, disrespectful. Sometimes he goes too far, as when he drove Kush Maini off the track at the Formula 2 race in Monza in the Curva Grande, forcing the Indian to abandon the race. Incidents like this ultimately mean that he is unlikely to win the title this year (there is still a mathematical chance). But these are things that can be corrected.
Super license for 2026 difficult
Marko confirms this: “He is a very aggressive driver, has fantastic car control and is fast. Red Bull likes that kind of thing – and of course we will be talking to him.”
His successful Formula 2 season with two wins and five other podium finishes, during which he even led the standings at one point, comes as something of a surprise. In Formula 3 the year before, he did not finish higher than 14th in the championship.
As a result, he currently lacks important super license points, which are likely to block his path to Formula 1 in 2026. Although the 19-year-old has already completed two free practice sessions for McLaren, he will lose most of the points he accumulated in 2022 after this season.
The moment Kush Maini went spinning out of the Sprint
Alex Dunne was given a 10-second time penalty for the incident and drops to 13th in the official classification ⬇️F2 ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/flkFZzhSIB— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 6, 2025
To secure the license, Dunne would have to finish the Formula 2 season in at least third place. He is currently fifth in the championship. He is 21 points behind Richard Verschoor and a full 31 points behind third-placed Williams junior Luke Browning with two race weekends remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, each with two races.
Marko therefore emphasizes: “He doesn’t have a super license. Let’s see. There are still two weekends left in Formula 2. Let’s see what he can achieve.” Another year in the junior series seems realistic, possibly combined with test drives and TPC drives for Red Bull. Missing super license points could also be collected through Friday tests.
At the same time, further decisions are pending in the Red Bull squad: While Isack Hadjar is set for promotion to the A team, Arvid Lindblad is considered a candidate for a cockpit at Racing Bulls from 2026.
A new addition like Dunne would fit in with Marko’s preferred strategy—always having another promising talent in reserve to put pressure on the current drivers.
