Alpine F1 team confirms Alex Dunne's academy role

Alpine has officially confirmed Irish F2 racer Alex Dunne will join its junior programme, while returning to the feeder series for a second year.

Dunne had long been expected to join the Alpine squad after being seen testing an F2 car in team sponsor BWT's pink colour, and on the eve of the new campaign the Enstone team finally confirmed the 20-year-old's arrival.

Dunne will return to F2 with Rodin Motorsport after taking fifth during his debut campaign in 2025, and will dovetail his racing duties with a development programme as an official member of the Alpine Academy.

“I am really happy to be joining the Alpine Academy and making this next step in my racing career," Dunne said. "I am very grateful for the trust the team has in me to represent the team and the brand on the global stage in FIA Formula 2, which has proven to be the perfect place to progress young drivers into professional racing roles.

"Naturally, after a competitive season in 2025, the goal this year is to fight for the Drivers' Championship."

Alex Dunne competed in two rookie FP1 sessions for McLaren in 2025.

Photo by: Andrea Diodato / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Having completed two rookie FP1 session with McLaren, Dunne parted ways with the Woking team in October after seeing his path to F1 blocked, and briefly did a deal with former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko before that was called off.

Dunne now joins a roster including Alpine's main reserve driver Paul Aron, who unlike Dunne has the required superlicence points to compete in F1, Kush Maini, and fellow junior driver Gabriele Mini.

Alpine's executive advisor Flavio Briatore added: “We are pleased to welcome Alex to Alpine as a member of our Academy. His performances in FIA Formula 2 and also his free practice sessions in Formula 1 last year were impressive and he is clearly a very talented young driver with pure, natural speed.

"We have a talented pool of drivers in Formula 2 with Gabriele Mini and Kush Maini. We look forward to watching the three of them compete in FIA Formula 2 in 2026 where the goal is very clear: to win the Drivers' Championship."