Formula 1 title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are tied down to long-term contracts at McLaren, but the downside is they have no room for their other star coming through

McLaren junior Alex Dunne’s star is on the rise(Image: Formula Motorsport Limited via G)

Now that the dust has settled after the “best day of his life”, Formula 2 title contender Alex Dunne finds himself in a curious position. The Irish driver is being touted as a potential future Formula 1 star, but with no obvious route into the sport.

A member of the McLaren driver academy, the 19-year-old has emerged as one of the brightest talents of his class. And that was on full display at the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June, when he got the chance to drive an F1 car in an official timed session for the first time.

Not just any old F1 car – the McLaren usually piloted by Lando Norris. And what an impression he made, posting a time good enough for fourth-place at the end of the first practice session at the Red Bull Ring, less than one-tenth slower than the best effort of championship leader Oscar Piastri in the other papaya-coloured car.

“This is definitely the best day of my life,” Dunne said over the radio at the end of that session. He also got a thank-you note from Norris at the end of the weekend, after the Brit won the F1 race and praised the junior driver for helping to set up his machine with his feedback from that first hour of practice.

Dunne’s F2 weekend in Spielberg didn’t go to plan. He looked to have finished second in the feature race, after scoring three points in the sprint, but was later disqualified because his car failed post-race checks for excessive wear to the plank.

But he made up for it at Silverstone, again finishing second in the feature race but this time keeping it, beaten only by Aston Martin reserve and fellow F2 title rival Jak Crawford. The American is second in the championship, eight points ahead of Dunne in third, while F2 veteran Richard Verschoor sits six points clear at the top in his fifth season in the category.

But, of the three, Dunne is the one who is being most hotly tipped for a future in F1. But a promotion from within the McLaren set-up seems to be firmly off the table with Piastri and Norris dominating the F1 championship and both tied down to long-term contracts.

“Our drivers aren’t going anywhere. They’re very happy, we’re very happy, so there’s no need to look at any other drivers,” said McLaren chief executive Zak Brown at Silverstone last week. And the situation will put McLaren in a dilemma if Dunne wins the F2 title, as the championship’s rules would then prevent him from continuing to race at that level.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are set to star for McLaren for years to come(Image: Getty Images)

“If he wins F2 this year, what are they going to do with him?” asked BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson recently. It’s a good question. Last year, they lost another promising academy driver, Gabriel Bortoleto, to Sauber for exactly the same reason – there is no direct pathway to F1 right now at McLaren.

“I would assume they’re going to be there for quite a while,” Dunne told Mirror Sport in April this year, referring to Norris and Piastri. “If this year goes really strong and I am kind of knocking on the door of F1, then we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

In that interview, Dunne indicated that he would consider racing for McLaren in IndyCar, if such an opportunity were to arise. But he also made it clear: “If I can still have the chance to be in F1, that’s ideally what I would like to do,” suggesting he’d prefer to follow Bortoleto out of the door if another outfit could give him a Formula 1 seat sooner.