Alex Dunne Alpine Academy deal confirmed after McLaren split and Red Bull saga
Alex Dunne has joined the Alpine Academy ahead of the new season
Former McLaren junior Alex Dunne has been confirmed as joining the Alpine Academy following months of negotiation with the Enstone-based squad.
The Irish driver begins his second Formula 2 campaign this weekend in Melbourne, where he will race in Alpine colours after completing a deal with Flavio Briatore’s team.
Alex Dunne confirmed in Alpine Academy switch
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
Dunne has joined the Alpine Academy, months after his decision to part ways with the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
He joins Kush Maini and Gabriele Mini at the top of the junior programme for the Enstone-based squad, with the trio racing in Formula 2 this season.
Stepping up to Formula 2 in 2025 after a difficult ’24 in Formula 3, Dunne became the first Irish race winner in the championship with victory in the feature race in Bahrain, and repeated the feat weeks later at Imola.
With six podium finishes on top of that, Dunne was a season-long championship contender in a campaign that was compromised by operational errors and technical disqualifications, as well as racing incidents.
He finished fifth in the championship at his first attempt, and will stay in F2 with Rodin Motorsport in ’26, alongside his new duties with the Alpine team.
Following two appearances in first practice at the Austrian and Italian grands prix, Dunne parted ways with McLaren ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, having been unable to find common ground with the Woking-based squad over his future.
With no seats opening up in the F1 team, McLaren had sought to move Dunne to IndyCar, a path the Irish driver was not in favour of.
Following the split with McLaren, Dunne was signed to the Red Bull programme by former team advisor Helmut Marko. But this decision was made unilaterally by the Austrian, without the involvement of senior management, Laurent Mekies and Oliver Mintzlaff.
Upon discovery of the signing, Marko was ordered to quash the contract, resulting in Dunne being paid a compensation fee of $600,000 that will go some way towards funding his second F2 season.
With Dunne once again available on the open market, he became a target for Alpine‘s Flavio Briatore and, following months of negotiations as revealed by PlanetF1.com, formalisation of the deal has now been completed.
Dunne said: “I am really happy to be joining the Alpine Academy and making this next step in my racing career.
“I am very grateful for the trust the team has in me to represent the team and the brand on the global stage in FIA Formula 2, which has proven to be the perfect place to progress young drivers into professional racing roles.
“Naturally, after a competitive season in 2025, the goal this year is to fight for the Drivers’ Championship.
“Last year was a great experience on many fronts. Lots learned, lots gained, some challenges along the way, but everything has made me a better driver, a better person, and I aim to give my all for Alpine and doing my best as an Alpine Academy driver.
“It would be great to reward the team for their faith with wins and podiums and I am excited to work together with everyone in this next chapter of my career.”
Briatore added: “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.
“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.”
Dunne’s FIA Super Licence situation is understood to have complicated negotiations, with the Irish driver not having reached the required 40 points of weighting that would make him eligible for a full FIA Super Licence and, thus, a potential reserve driver role with the team.
But, with negotiations nearing completion, Dunne drove a pink-coloured car with BWT and Alpine Academy branding in the recent Barcelona F2 test, even before the final sign-off of the deal.
Alex Dunne’s quest for an FIA Super Licence and a full Formula 1 drive
The Irish driver’s target for 2026 is to accumulate the points weighting required for an F1 Super Licence, which would bring him into contention for the reserve driver seat role currently occupied by Paul Aron, as well as for a potential race seat if either Pierre Gasly or Franco Colapinto move elsewhere.
Drivers must achieve a total of 40 Super Licence points over the most recent three-year period in order to be granted a full FIA Super Licence that allows them to participate in Formula 1.
These points are weighted based on results over the past three years; with fifth-place in Formula 2 in 2025, earning 20 points, and second-place in GB3 in 2023, earning seven points, Dunne’s two FP1 appearances with McLaren in 2025 earned him another two points.
On a score of 29 points in total, Dunne must finish in the top five in Formula 2 this year in order to achieve this target, whilst he can also earn additional single points through FP1 appearances.
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: FIA postpones WEC Qatar 1812km as Formula 1 monitors Gulf situation
