Helmut Marko’s cryptic response about McLaren’s Alex Dunne’s FP1 performance

Red Bull Racing chief Helmut Marko weighed in on the performance of Alex Dunne during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Marko offered a subtle response to the outing of the young Irish driver at the Spielberg circuit.

The Formula 2 driver, who made the step up to Formula 1 as part of the sport’s rookie drivers' test programme, drove the MCL39 car in place of Lando Norris, who watched from the pit wall. Dunne, whose car was initially fitted with aero rakes, set the fourth-fastest time of the session — 1:05.766 — just under a tenth behind teammate Oscar Piastri.

The outing of Alex Dunne was largely met with praise in the Formula 1 paddock. However, Marko had a few reservations. Sharing his thoughts after the free practice session, the Red Bull Head of Driver Development Programme said:

"Yes, but he wound the engine up. But, still, he did a very good job."

Quizzed about whether he harboured any regret over missing out on the McLaren prodigy, Marko added:

“We never had him. We can only have four seats. We have (Isack) Hadjar, (Arvid( Lindblad. Just because one comes up, we can't have all drivers."

Alex Dunne, who became the first Irish driver to participate in a Formula 1 session since Ralph Firman in 2003, leads the F2 championship. The 19-year-old will hope to continue his impressive form as the 2025 season progresses.

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Andrea Stella on Alex Dunne’s outing

Andrea Stella weighed in on Alex Dunne’s outing during the Austrian Grand Prix free practice session. The McLaren team principal, pleased with the performance, cautioned against reading too much into the lap time set by the young driver, though.

Dunne ended the session fourth-fastest after running 29 laps in his first outing in an F1 car. The 19-year-old, who had participated in a Test of Previous Cars programme at the Circuit of the Americas, finished ahead of several frontrunners in what was his official debut. However, Stella stressed the need for caution following his impressive performance.

Sharing his thoughts on Alex Dunne’s outing via Sky Sports F1, the McLaren team boss said:

"I think we have to acknowledge that he (Dunne) has gone through quite an extensive plan of testing with some new parts, with some rake work, some adjustments on the steering wheel that we don't see on TV but definitely keep the drivers very busy. "Alex has been quite diligent and impressive. Then he also had the chance to show some speed — and no surprise, he's a fast driver. I think we need to be a bit careful looking at the lap times because his time came later on in the stint when the fuel was down. But I think it was encouraging and impressive in terms of Alex himself, and also a good session for McLaren."

Following his impressive outing during the free practice session, Alex Dunne jumped back into his F2 machinery for the qualifying session of the F2 race.

The McLaren youngster qualified seventh, with Leonardo Fornaroli clinching pole. Dunne will look to climb up the grid to end an impressive weekend on a high.

Edited by Bhargav