McLaren look to have their Formula 1 driver line-up locked in for many years with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri excelling, but they have even younger stars on the books
McLaren have a driver line-up that is the envy of their rivals up and down the Formula 1 grid. In Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, they have two of the most talented racers in the sport, aged 25 and 24, tied down on long-term contracts.
It’s a daunting pairing for anyone to come up against on track. And it’s similarly concerning for any young driver within the McLaren setup who harbours ambitions of making it onto the F1 grid, such as 19-year-old Alex Dunne.
It has been nearly a year since the Irish racer was recruited by McLaren. Dunne was racing in Formula 3 at the time but has since stepped up to Formula 2, the feeder series directly below F1, and secured his first win at that level at last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix in only the third race of the season.
“I joined at the perfect time as well,” he told Mirror Sport after that maiden F2 victory, referring to his McLaren affiliation. No kidding – it was only a few days before the announcement that he had signed with the outfit that Norris had secured his maiden F1 win at the Miami Grand Prix.
Since then, McLaren have been the team to beat on the grid. They won the constructors’ title in 2024 and are the heavy favourites to do so again this year, with Norris and Piastri both chasing individual glory in the drivers’ championship.
READ MORE: F1 news: Lando Norris issues apology as furious Lewis Hamilton wounded after latest failureREAD MORE: ‘Hopefully Eddie Jordan would have been proud’ – Ireland’s Alex Dunne on first Formula 2 win
Dunne continues: “From the announcement to now it’s kind of been the peak of McLaren’s recent success. Yeah, it’s a cool time to be a part of McLaren with how well they’re doing.
“I feel it every time I’m at the factory, everyone’s really happy, everyone’s working hard and pushing the whole team on. I’m not a part of that specific team yet – hopefully I can be one day – but it’s really nice to see. McLaren is such a cool and prestigious team to be a part of.
“They’re very helpful as well, they’re helping me a lot as a driver to develop, whether it’s nutrition, fitness and on the sim as well, so it’s very cool to be a part of it and they’re helping me a lot.”
Sky Sports launches discounted Formula 1 package
Formula 1 fans can watch every practice, qualifying and race live with Sky’s new Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in a new deal that saves £192.
As well as Sky Sports access, this includes more than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
Having Norris and Piastri both committed to the team for the coming years is hardly a bad thing for McLaren. But it does mean there is not a clear pathway into F1 for their affiliated youngsters, evidenced by last year’s F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto leaving to join Sauber so he could get onto the grid this season.
And Dunne admits it’s “hard to say” how he can earn a promotion even if his debut season at F1 level turns out to be a wild success. He said: “Oscar has just extended his contract – Lando, I’m not really sure how it is for him, but I think realistically, if you look at how well they’re going, I would assume they’re going to be there for quite a while.
“If the opportunity is there to race for McLaren, that would be a dream come true. But realistically right now I’m not really close to being an F1 driver, I’ve still got a lot to do in F2 before that’s a real possibility, so it’s not really the focus at the moment.
“If this year goes really strong and I am kind of knocking on the door of F1, then we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” McLaren also compete in Formula E and IndyCar, and recently announced a World Endurance Championship programme from 2027, but Dunne wants to give his all to make it into F1 before he starts looking at other series.
“He added: “If I can still have the chance to be in F1, that’s ideally what I would like to do. But if for whatever reason that isn’t possible, it is nice to know that McLaren have other opportunities for their drivers.”
