Dunne in talks to sign for Red Bull following McLaren departure

Offaly's Alex Dunne may be on the brink of signing for Formula One motor racing team Red Bull.

The Clonbullogue talent has had a promising F2 season driving under McLaren Driver Development programme, but late last week, in a social media post, announced that he had agreed to mutually part ways with his current employers.

In a weekend BBC report, Red Bull motorsport adviser, Helmut Marko, revealed that Dunne was "very like a Red Bull driver", acknowledging that the company were in talks with the 19 year old about signing him for their driver development programme, but stopped short of confirming that a deal would be done.

Dunne, currently placed fifth in the F2 driver's championship, has been with the McLaren's Driver Development programme since May 2024, but his options to progress to their F1 team are limited with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the company's focal drivers for the foreseeable future.

Speaking with the BBC about the potential for Red Bull to sign Dunne, Marko said he had shown in his debut Formula 2 season all the qualities Red Bull look for in racing drivers.

"We're in discussions, now that he's free. He's very aggressive, fast and has good car control. He's making lots of mistakes as well, at the moment. But he's very like a Red Bull driver," Marko said.

Dunne has had two F1 test drive experiences this championship season, firstly at the Austrian Grand Prix in June, when he finished fourth in first practice, just 0.069 seconds behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. Dunne also took part in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix in September.

If the Red Bull deal is signed, the BBC are reporting that Dunne would continue for a second season in F2 with the chance to graduate to F1 with their second team Racing Bulls in 2027.

Dunne has won two feature races in his inaugural F2 campaign, in Bahrain and Imola, but has dropped out of title contention and is now 58 points behind the driver's championship leader

The final two rounds of the F2 season take place at the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix on the last weekend in November and first in December.

Dunne, who joined the team as development driver in May 2024, also took part in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix in September.

McLaren said in a statement: "It has been a pleasure to work with Alex over the last year and to contribute to his growth as a driver.

"We wish Alex all the best for his career going forward."