McLaren seeking 2026 F1 seat for Alex Dunne with £1.2bn-valued team now seen as a ‘good fit’

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McLaren handed Irish youngster Alex Dunne his second practice outing of the season at the Italian Grand Prix.

Free practice 1 at Monza saw Ferrari secure a one-two finish, although that wasn’t representative of McLaren’s outright pace.

Alex Dunne replaced Oscar Piastri and was P16 in FP1, with Lando Norris sixth-fastest behind Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Alpine sent Paul Aron out as the other youngster to take part in that practice session, but the Estonian was slowest out of the 20 drivers, although not that far off Pierre Gasly.

Dunne has had a very strong Formula 2 campaign this year, and while it looks unlikely that he’ll win the championship, he’s certainly turned plenty of heads.

Karun Chandhok told McLaren to loan out Dunne in 2026 after his impressive run at the Red Bull Ring, and his future is once again a topic of discussion.

McLaren are unlikely to have an open seat for some time, with Norris and Piastri arguably the best partnership on the grid right now.

It means that Zak Brown and Andrea Stella need to look elsewhere to hand Dunne a promotion in 2026, and the £1.2bn-valued Alpine team look like their best bet.

READ MORE: Who is Alex Dunne? The McLaren junior driver’s age, stats and more as he drives FP1 session in Monza

Alpine a ‘good fit’ for Alex Dunne as McLaren seek 2026 Formula 1 seat for the Irishman

Rebecca Clancy and Ben Hunt were speaking on the Inside the Piranha Club Podcast about the 19-year-old Irishman’s future, and Clancy said: “But also for this weekend, we are seeing, I have to bring him up, the fellow Irishman Alex Dunne is jumping in the car for FP1 for Piastri.

“So, he’s sitting out that session that normally you would think would be a negative for a driver, but we obviously saw this happen for Norris in Austria, and he went on to win the race, and he loved it.”

Hunt replied: “Yeah. I mean, all eyes will be on Dunne and seeing how well he does because he obviously impressed in Austria.

“You know there’s no space for him currently on the grid, but we do know things can change around. You know Alpine could be an option, couldn’t it?”

Clancy continued: “Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it? Because Monza marks the one-year anniversary of Franco Colapinto’s debut.

“He is obviously under a lot of pressure at the moment. And Alex Dunne is a McLaren driver who’s part of that program.

“They don’t have any seats, though, let’s be honest. It doesn’t look like Norris is going anywhere. It doesn’t look like Piastri is going anywhere. So Alex Dunne isn’t going to get the look in that he should.

“And so he would be looking for a seat on the grid. It’s not going to be with McLaren.”

Hunt concluded: “If he impresses, then that gives McLaren a little bit of a headache, but he would be quite a good fit if he does for Alpine.”

BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson added on the Chequered Flag Podcast: “Dunne, he’s looking really impressive. He’s doing really well in F2 this season, and they’re looking for a place for him on the F1 grid next year.

“It’s not going to be easy to find, because there aren’t a lot of spots open, but he appears to have a bright future so far.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Who are Alpine going to choose as Pierre Gasly’s teammate for the 2026 Formula 1 season?

Alpine did announce some contract news at the Italian Grand Prix, albeit not on the side of the garage that many were expecting.

Gasly extended his Alpine contract to the end of the 2028 F1 season, highlighting his faith in the team despite currently sitting bottom of the constructors’ championship.

However, the identity of his teammate beyond this season is still unknown.

Franco Colapinto is the only active driver yet to score a point this season, although his P11 finish at the Dutch Grand Prix was a positive step forward for the Argentinian.

Colapinto needs to be wary of the leftover Red Bull driver as they look set to shuffle their line-ups around in 2026.

That could be Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson, while Aron is still making his case to earn a full-time promotion next season.

Dunne is another name to add to the mix, but it’s hard to see how much power McLaren have in negotiations to loan out their most promising youngster to a rival on the grid.