Dunne “knew how to go about it” after tough start to F2 qualifying in Monza

Credit: Formula 2

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne knows he is quick. 

The Irishman qualified up in the top four for the ninth time in 10 Formula 2 weekends in 2026, once again building on the consistency he has come to be known for on Friday’s sessions throughout his career. 

Dunne remains unfazed despite not taking a single pole position in 2026; he holds a best qualifying result of second from Austria and Silverstone, and an average qualifying result of 4.3 this year, before penalties are applied. 

The change in approach has become more evident over the course of Dunne’s second F2 campaign, as he aims to come to terms quicker with his result, rather than dwelling on the disappointment of not scoring the ultimate result. 

“I don't really look at what it could be. I think in terms of my own performance, I'm happy with what I'm doing,” the Irishman said, speaking after his qualifying performance. 

However, behind the stellar numbers in qualifying are the initial struggles that Dunne has had to overcome. 

In Barcelona, an early track limits deletion in qualifying left him up against the clock, with the Rodin driver eventually securing third after setting a strong flying lap late in the session. 

A lock-up early on in Austria left him once again chasing the ultimate time, and Dunne lifted himself into second with yet another timely lap, splitting the two Campos drivers that day. 

Another early lap time deletion for track limits at Silverstone left Dunne with work to do, and he eventually put in a lap good enough for a front-row start alongside fellow qualifying ace Rafa Câmara. 

But despite these setbacks, Dunne has grown through to ensure he makes the most of the 30-minute session and still mounts a comeback. He has often alluded to being calmer and more relaxed in his approach over the course of the season, the defining layer for any driver midway through their second season. 

While he is a more experienced figure in his own right now, Dunne, like any other driver on the grid, aims to score the best possible starting result for the pair of races. 

But much like previous qualifying sessions, several factors got in the way of his first flying laps. While he left the pits as the first car on the grid, eager to set a lap, it would only be after another couple of tours that the Rodin driver set off on his first flying lap. 

While he appeared slightly less steady going through the first sector, Dunne locked up his tyres going into the tricky Ascari chicane, scampering over the gravel and forced to abort this attempted flying lap. 

After another slow lap, Dunne set off again for another crack at a flying lap. Yet, the challenges would only mount, as he couldn’t slow down in time at Turns 1 and 2. 

Going slightly deep into the first chicane meant he was over four tenths down after just one sector, and was forced to return to the pits with half the session already complete. 

It can be frustrating for any driver to face such teething issues, especially when the underlying pace is good enough to net a great starting position for the pair of races. The Rodin car had been quick enough to top a curtailed practice session earlier in the day, with Dunne targeting a big result in qualifying. 

With 12 minutes to go in the session, a third flying lap elevated Dunne up to fourth, but the challenge remained. Having run the entire lap without a slipstream from another car ahead, he sat four tenths of a second off leader Câmara’s lap time. 

“I think I've been in that position a couple of times this year already,” Dunne reflected, looking back at the difficult starts to qualifying sessions.  

“So I think I kind of knew how to go about it.” 

What came as a positive sign, though, was the Rodin’s underlying performance around Monza’s straights; this was Dunne’s fourth lap on the same set of tyres. On a day when the track temperatures peaked at 50°C, and drivers often completed their flying laps close to a car ahead, this proved to be an excellent effort from the Irishman. 

Yet, this wasn’t the end of his efforts. Coming in for his second set of tyres, Dunne rejoined the queue of drivers setting off on their final flying laps, with just under six minutes to go. 

He took another trip through the pits, in a bid to avoid being the first to set off on a flying lap once again, and hand a tow to the rest of the field. 

But this meant he only had one flying lap to make it count. And around this configuration, the best way to find more time on those ahead was to remain in the pack of cars, even if the time ebbed away. 

“I think it was always going to be difficult,” Dunne remarked, speaking of the extraordinary circumstances ahead of the final laps in qualifying. 

As PREMA Racing’s Mari Boya slowed the pack up with under 90 seconds to go, Dunne still held firm. Even as the likes of Roman Bilinski, Nikola Tsolov and Sebastián Montoya took to the run-off in a bid to find clear air and get on with their respective flying laps, the Irishman patiently waited. 

“I had people kind of going around me on the left, going around me on the right.

And I just really wanted to stay out of trouble,” he expressed, amid the melee.

Dunne played it slightly riskier when he attempted to go towards the outside of the final corner, and let several drivers eventually overtake him. “I kind of just tried to let everyone pass and then went when I felt like I was behind someone that I knew I could be in a good position.”

On this day, the fortunate one would be Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone. Although he sat well down the order in 16th, the gap Dunne had created to the VAR ahead proved key in getting his final flying lap. 

And now it was all on the Alpine junior to do what he had done best all year: Get that crucial final flying lap in. 

Dunne pushed on, completing the first sector in 29.4 seconds. But it was his second sector at 31.122 seconds, the quickest of the day, that kept him in the ballpark for pole. 

While a 30.7-second final sector was only slower than Câmara's, it briefly elevated Dunne to second on the road. Only just beaten to the post by Dürksen’s Invicta, the Rodin man put himself much closer to the top two, at just 0.156 seconds from the outright pole time. 

“If the beginning of the session doesn't quite go to plan, you just need to keep your head and focus on doing a good job on the second set (of tyres),” Dunne responded when asked by DIVEBOMB about recovering from the setbacks early in the session. 

Only moments ago, he faced the challenge of being caught up in the typical Monza traffic jam, and find himself compromised in his quest to improve his starting position for the race weekend. But the ever calmer version of Dunne ensured he came away with the best possible outcome on the day. 

The result comes at a pivotal time for Dunne and Rodin Motorsport, with both looking for an immediate right of reply after a torrid weekend in Hungary. 

“I think to be back in the top three after a difficult weekend in Hungary is nice,” the Irishman expressed, delighted to be at the sharp end of the grid once again. 

Dunne endured his first non-scoring weekend of the season around the Hungaroring, finishing 19th and 11th in the pair of races. 

With his closest contenders in the standings scoring more points before F2 headed off into its summer break, Dunne fell further behind in the standings, ending the first half of the season 59 points off championship leader Tsolov. 

This qualifying result provides the likes of Dunne and Câmara a vital opportunity to cut into Tsolov’s deficit ahead and strengthen their position to win the F2 drivers’ title in 2026. For Dunne, staying calm and focused and scoring more podiums in the weekends to come will certainly take him closer to this accolade.