MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne scored his first podium in Formula 3 during Barcelona’s sprint race. Feeder Series spoke to Dunne after the race to find out how his recent signing to the McLaren Driver Development Programme has aided in achieving this result. 

By Tori Turner

Dunne made history during Saturday’s sprint race, becoming the first Irish driver in the history of F3 and its predecessor GP3 to score a podium. The podium came after a difficult start to his rookie season, in which Dunne had more finishes outside of the points than within. This result also marks his first points in the championship since the second round in Melbourne.

“The beginning of the year has been a bit tricky, so to finally get a decent result or a result I feel that we should’ve had earlier on in the season is definitely nice to have. I think, as a team this weekend, we have struggled a bit, so I felt like I maximised on what was possible,” Dunne said.

“I think the pace was strong, and I felt like at the beginning I had good pace and I was trying to look after my tyres. Then towards the end Mari kind of picked it up a little bit when I started to struggle a little bit more. I think I managed it pretty well and I’m happy with P2,” he added.

Dunne’s qualifying result yesterday – a time just under three-tenths off pole – gave him the advantage of starting on the second row of the grid for the sprint. He maintained his fourth-place position in the opening laps until a crash involving the leading Trident pair of Sami Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos on Lap 3 promoted him to second place. 

The Irish driver waited until the closing stages of the sprint to close the gap to Boya, gradually piling on pressure for the Spaniard. On Lap 16, he attempted to make a move on the race leader into Turn 1, tricking Boya into defending his position. Dunne told selected media about his choice to try such a bold move. 

“I think over the entire race it was the closest I had been, so I kind of thought I may never get this chance to be this close again, so I have to give it at least a go. I think, after that, I wasn’t able to pull a move off, so I decided to try and chill again. I felt that if I kept trying and trying, eventually I would have killed my tyres. I just tried to chill and look after them in P2,” he said.

He was unable to follow up with another opportunity to overtake due to a safety car in the remaining laps.

It was announced that Dunne had joined the McLaren Driver Development Programme ahead of the third round in Imola earlier this year. Hitech GP’s Martinius Stenshorne, who was announced alongside Dunne, also scored highly in Saturday’s race with a fourth-place finish, making it a successful sprint for both McLaren juniors. McLaren’s Driver Development Programme has had several drivers make it to the ranks of F1 over the years, including seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and recent race winner Lando Norris. 

“To see that my talent is being recognised by an F1 team is something that is pretty special, and to have the support of McLaren is something I have always dreamed of as a kid,” Dunne told Feeder Series.

“They’re helping me with preparation, whether it be through sim work, fitness or whatever it may be, they help. Pretty much from the minute we announced, which was the weekend in Imola, from then on the speed has been there,” he added, accrediting his change in pace this weekend due to recent support from McLaren.

Dunne hopes that he and McLaren can continue to build on this result in the future. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency