Alpine has added Irish driver Alex Dunne to its development academy just days before the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season in Australia.
The French team confirmed the move on Wednesday, announcing that the 20-year-old will join its young driver programme while competing in Formula 2 this year with Rodin Motorsport.
Alpine revealed the news in a social media post, writing: “Welcoming @alexdunneracing to the BWT Alpine Academy. The Irishman will compete in @Formula2 this season with @RodinMotorsport.”
Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s executive advisor, said the team had been impressed by Dunne’s performances in junior categories and during previous appearances in Formula 1 machinery.
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“We are pleased to welcome Alex to Alpine as a member of our Academy. His performances in FIA Formula 2 and also his Free Practice sessions in Formula One last year were impressive and he is clearly a very talented young driver with pure, natural speed,” Briatore said.
“We have a talented pool of drivers in Formula 2 with Gabriele Mini and Kush Maini. We look forward to watching the three of them compete in FIA Formula 2 in 2026 where the goal is very clear: to win the Drivers’ Championship.”
Rookie appearance in F1
Before joining Alpine’s programme, Dunne had been part of McLaren’s junior driver setup and made his first appearance in a Formula 1 session in 2025.
He drove during the opening practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix, stepping in for Lando Norris as part of the sport’s requirement for teams to run rookie drivers in several FP1 sessions each season.
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Dunne attracted attention with a strong performance, finishing the session fourth on the timesheets. He ended just 0.224 seconds behind Mercedes driver George Russell and only 0.069 seconds off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Decision to leave McLaren
Despite that promising outing, Dunne announced in October 2025 that he would leave McLaren’s driver programme.
Speaking to Balls.ie at the time, he said the decision was based on improving his chances of eventually securing a full-time Formula 1 race seat.
“For me, there’s a goal and a plan in place, and that’s to be a Formula One driver. From the options that I knew I had, the decision we made was one that had to be made to be in F1. I think it’s as simple as that,” he said.
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“It was actually my decision … for me, I felt like it was the right decision. I’m more than comfortable with that. I’ll always thank McLaren for that opportunity [to compete in FP1] and for what they did for me up until we decided to go our separate ways.”
New era begins in Melbourne
Dunne’s signing comes just days before the 2026 Formula 1 season begins at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The upcoming campaign marks the introduction of a major overhaul of the sport’s technical rules. Cars have been redesigned to be lighter and smaller, changes aimed at improving agility and encouraging closer racing.
The new power unit regulations also place a greater emphasis on electrical energy, meaning drivers will need to carefully manage battery deployment during races to maximise overtaking opportunities.
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Pre-season testing in Bahrain suggested Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren could start the year strongly, while Aston Martin experienced reliability concerns after encountering several issues with its new AMR26 challenger.
Sources: Alpine F1 Team statements, Balls.ie
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