Dunne penalised for Melbourne F2 race incident

Offaly racing driver Alex Dunne will face a grid penalty at his next F2 feature race following an incident at the season opening Australian Grand Prix at the weekend.

The Clonbollogue driver was forced to retire after making contact with Rodin Motorsport teammate Martinius Stenshorne during Sunday’s feature race in Melbourne.

Having impressed in qualification, the recent Alpine F1 Academy recruit moved into second position as the early race placings developed but made contact with Stenshorne at the start of the third lap putting both drivers out of the race.

In a statement after the race, the FIA confirmed that Dunne had been handed a penalty that will carry over to his next F2 grand prix race.

In a statement after the race, the FIA confirmed that the recent Alpine F1 Academy recruit had been handed a penalty that will carry over to the next round in Sakhir in April.

“Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Melbourne, Alexander Dunne has been assigned a post-race penalty,“ the statement read.

“During the race, the Rodin Motorsport driver had contact with Car 14 of Martinius Stenshorne.

“Following the race, the Stewards heard from both drivers along with a team representative and examined available video evidence.

“They determined that Car 15 had been predominantly responsible for the collision.

“As a result, the Stewards allocated a 10-second time penalty to the Irish driver.

“In accordance with the 2026 FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations, the penalty is converted into a grid drop of five places for the next feature race.”

With uncertainty regarding the hosting of the next two F2 grand prix races, due to take place in Sakhir and Jeddah, Dunne's grid penalty may be imposed at the Monaco feature race in early June.