Alex Dunne said being handed the chance to drive a Formula One car during yesterday’s Free Practice One session at the Red Bull Ring had made “a little boy’s dream come true”.
The first Irishman to participate in a Formula One weekend in over two decades, Dunne stole the show in Austria to the delight of his supporters by setting the fourth fastest time.
Standing in for Britain’s Lando Norris, the nineteen-year-old’s best effort during the one hour exercise in McLaren’s MCL39 title challenger totalled a minute and 5.766 seconds.
Lando Norris finished fastest in second practice in Austria (Darko Bandic/AP) (Darko Bandic/AP)
He was only bettered by George Russell of Mercedes who topped the timesheets with a 1:05.542 – just 0.065 seconds up on the Red Bull of reigning and 4-time World Champion Max Verstappen and another 0.155 seconds clear of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
Dunne usurped some big names, including the Ferrari of Sir Lewis Hamilton (ninth), and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso (fourteenth). Fellow rookie Dino Beganovic was 18th.
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“I want to say a massive thank you for making a little boy’s dream come true,” Dunne said over the team radio afterwards, “and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with this car.”
Back in the McLaren team garage, Dunne added: “I don’t even know where to start. Super, super happy. I think it is safe to say it all went pretty well.
“I think we knew going through the session that the goal was not necessarily for performance – it was more to help out with the car, to help Lando, and kind of just help the team improve as much as they can for Free Practice Two and Free Practice Three, and then onwards into the weekend.
“So, to have the pace that I had and, you know, show what I am capable of on the Formula One stage is something pretty special. So again, a massive thank you to McLaren and everyone for the opportunity. I am extremely grateful.”
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McLaren race engineers opted to use the opening stages of Free Practice One to discover more about the new components they are bringing to Austria before Dunne was set free. Over the course of the hour-long session, the Offaly man chalked up twenty-nine laps.
Dunne – who provisionally leads the Formula 2 support championship which returns this weekend at the Red Bull Ring and is a member of McLaren’s young driver programme – revealed this week that he first found out about the chance at April’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri (left) has emerged as title favourite after the first five races (Altaf Qadri/AP) (Altaf Qadri/AP)
Under current Formula One rules, teams must field a rookie driver in two separate Free Practice One sessions, per car, in a move that is designed to offer up-coming talent more opportunities. The expectation is Dunne will feature in the MCL39 in the weeks ahead.