Alex Dunne ‘very much like a Red Bull driver’ as Helmut Marko confirms talks

Helmut Marko has said Red Bull is now in active discussions with Alex Dunne as the Irishman has become available following a shock split from McLaren.

McLaren and Dunne confirmed an abrupt conclusion to their contract just before the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, meaning the Formula 2 star is now a free agent to explore options elsewhere.

Helmut Marko: Alex Dunne is very aggressive and quick

Dunne had been part of McLaren’s driver development programme since early 2024, and prospered upon stepping up to Formula 2 with Rodin Motorsport this year.

Dunne has become no stranger to the podium, scoring several wins en route to what looked to be a championship challenge at his first attempt, and dovetailed this challenge alongside a busy schedule with McLaren as he carried out an intensive TPC programme and his first two F1 weekend outings with FP1 appearances in Austria and Italy.

While his championship challenge has faltered by way of misfortunes, such as team procedural and operational errors, Dunne has become a standout property in the F1 support series, but has been faced with a glass ceiling at McLaren as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are on long-term deals.

PlanetF1.com understands a fundamental disagreement between McLaren and Dunne’s camp on what the Irishman’s immediate future looked like led to a “mutual” decision to part ways, leading to the abrupt announcement from McLaren on Thursday that its junior driver would depart the operation immediately.

“McLaren Racing has ended its contract with McLaren Driver Development Programme member Alex Dunne,” said a team statement.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Alex over the last year and to have contributed to his progress and success through the programme. Alex will be released with immediate effect, and we wish him the very best for his future career.”

With Dunne hinting in his own confirmation of the same that an alternative plan is already in place, speaking of his excitement at what’s to come, PlanetF1.com understands Red Bull is the likely destination for Dunne.

As first reported by PlanetF1.com last month, Dunne met with Marko at the Hungarian Grand Prix for the purpose of introductory talks. The reveal of these talks are believed to have raised eyebrows within McLaren, at a time when discussions regarding Dunne’s future path were ongoing. Since Hungary, those discussions with Red Bull have ramped up, as Marko confirmed to the BBC in Singapore.

“We’re in discussions now that he’s free,” Marko said.

“He’s very aggressive, quick, and has strong car control. He’s still making plenty of mistakes at the moment—but he’s very much like a Red Bull driver.”

It’s understood that, at present, no deal has been signed between Dunne and Red Bull, nor an agreement reached.

There is a general feeling from both sides that Red Bull’s environment may be a better fit for Dunne than McLaren, although the Irish driver will now be without the sage advice of driving coach Warren Hughes, as Hughes remains with McLaren to head up the supervision of the team’s junior programme.

The big question mark about Dunne and Red Bull is just what might be planned for the Irish driver within the ranks of the two F1 teams Marko can influence, and PlanetF1.com understands that, at present, the talks are simply focused on the possibility of bringing Dunne into the fold of the junior programme, with no focus on timings.

As is usual with the programme, Red Bull aims to keep growing its roster of drivers so there are options available when it’s felt drivers are ready for when opportunities arise.

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A seat at the senior team alongside Max Verstappen is highly improbable, given that Isack Hadjar has proven himself during a stellar rookie season at Racing Bulls this year; that’s assuming Red Bull does opt for a change to replace the struggling Yuki Tsunoda.

If Hadjar is promoted, Tsunoda is unlikely to return to the Faenza-based squad at which he raced between 2021 and the start of this year, given Racing Bulls is primarily a proving ground for Red Bull’s young talent. To that end, Liam Lawson is likely to remain as the Kiwi has found his feet through the middle phase of this season after initial struggles to adjust after reverting to the team following his Red Bull demotion.

Assuming Lawson is retained, there remains a vacant seat alongside him. The assumed frontrunner for this seat has been Arvid Lindblad, who has been the lead Red Bull junior talent over the past 12 months. However, Lindblad trails Dunne in the F2 championship and blotted his copybook by colliding with Dunne in the feature race at Monza last month.

His future now seems less assured than it was just a few short months ago, although conversations with Dunne could be viewed as a way for Marko to apply pressure on the young driver to reapply himself to self-improvement.

If Dunne is brought on board within the Red Bull ecosystem, it could therefore be a straightforward head-to-head between Lindblad and Dunne for a Racing Bulls F1 seat, assuming the Irish driver can finish this season with enough Super Licence points; Dunne must finish third or higher in Formula 2 to have the required 40 Super Licence points to race in F1. Alternatively, an option could be for Red Bull to send Dunne for a ‘top-up’ by way of competing in a winter series abroad, as it did with Lindblad in New Zealand last winter.

The Irish driver has also been speculated as being a target for Alpine in recent months, but PlanetF1.com understands these rumours are of little substance and that Alpine is only looking internally for its 2026 options.

Dunne’s “mutual” departure is unlikely to have come about without the Irish driver having a firm course of action in reserve. Assuming that Red Bull is the destination, switching from McLaren does increase his options, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate F1 seat.

With Red Bull controlling four seats, becoming the next-in-line Red Bull junior and reserve would mean Dunne waiting in the wings for a seat opening in 2027, or perhaps even during ’26, while keeping sharp by continuing with an F2 race programme with Red Bull’s backing.