Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

F1 Academy held an in-season test this week, before several of its drivers headed to Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit to gain Formula E mileage.

The all-female Formula 4 championship tested at Bahrain on October 28-30, with a morning and afternoon session each day.

Hitech GP was without Aiva Anagnostiadis, who recently had left foot surgery, and Rachel Robertson took her place after debuting in single-seaters with Hitech in Saudi Arabian F4.

Absent from the test’s third day were frontrunners Chloe Chambers (Campos Racing) and McLaren junior Ella Lloyd (Rodin Motorsport), as both will drive in FE’s women’s test tomorrow.

They will be with Envision Racing and Mahindra respectively, and are not the only junior single-seater talents taking part.

Nissan will run its simulator driver Abbi Pulling, the 2024 F1 Academy champion, who came 10th in GB3 this year.

Jamie Chadwick was third in the 2025 European Le Mans Series after her race-winning 2024 Indy Nxt campaign did not take her to IndyCar, and she will reunite with Jaguar who she has tested with since 2020.

The Cupra-partnered Kiro Race Co. team will provide running to its development driver Bianca Bustamante. She was 22nd in GB3 this season.

Maya Weug (MP Motorsport) topped every session of F1 Academy’s test. On the first morning her benchmark laptime was a 2m04.930s, set on just her second flying lap, and she posted a 2m04.773s in the afternoon to lead title rival Doriane Pin (Prema) by 0.167 seconds.

There were spells of inactivity in the morning, with several drivers without a laptime halfway through the three-hour session.

Chambers, Lloyd, Pin and Weug all spent time on top in the afternoon before representative laps were set, with Alisha Palmowski (Campos) first to do so. Weug outpaced her by 0.001s with 11 minutes to go, then Pin went fastest. But Weug broke into the 2m04s and beat her morning benchmark. Palmowski was over half a second behind in third, with Alba Hurup Larsen (MP) fourth.

Nina Gademan (Prema) led the way early on Wednesday morning, then Pin was fastest. Weug moved to the top with a 2m05.191s shortly before Larsen stopping on track caused red flags.

Pin reclaimed top spot after the restart, then Palmowski and Weug lapped sub-2m05s. Joanna Ciconte (MP) was next to be quickest, but Weug bettered her by 0.098s with a 2m04.567s. Chambers and Palmowski were also close to the pace, while Lloyd caused further red flags with an off.

More drivers made it into first place during the afternoon session, and Larsen laid down a 2m04.613s which looked unbeatable until Weug went quickest by 0.056s in the final hour.

Weug punched in a 2m04.873s early on Thursday morning, improved to 2m04.171s then found another 0.021s. Larsen was second in the session, 0.63s behind.

It was Weug on top almost all the way in the afternoon. She posted a 2m04.993s on her second flying lap, which she improved upon by 0.001s far later to have a 0.214s gap over Larsen.

The post F1 Academy drivers test in Bahrain as rivals head to Spain for Formula E appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Saudi Arabian F4

Kit Belofsky extended his points lead in Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s second round at Bahrain.

There were two changes to the grid from round one three days prior, with Ary Bansal and Esmee Kosterman joining.

Adam Al Azhari was fastest in Wednesday’s practice, setting a 2m06.041s to lead Bansal by 0.781 seconds. Scott Lindblom and Belofsky were next, 1.15s off the pace.

In qualifying Al Azhari remained on top, his advantage reduced to 0.547s by Lindblom. Belofsky was a further 0.045s behind, with Theo Palmer 0.034s slower than him in fourth. Bansal was fifth, 0.832s off pole, and Battig was sixth but had a three-place grid penalty.

Al Azhari led race one lights-to-flag, creating a five-second lead before a safety car period left him with three laps to build it back up to 2.051s.

Palmer took third at the start, but Belofsky got back past into turn four and Bansal followed him past Palmer exiting it. Bansal then tried going around Belofsky’s outside at the last corner, which allowed Palmer to get on the inside for fourth.

They ran three-wide into turn one and Bansal grabbed third on the inside while Palmer passed Belofsky on the outside. But Belofsky reclaimed fourth through turn two.

He attacked Bansal through turn 11 on lap three, and on the outside of turn one on lap five. At turn four Palmer went around the outside of Belofsky, who masterfully moved back ahead through the downhill turn six.

Belofsky locked up into turn 10 but overtook Bansal, with Linblom four seconds ahead before the safety car appeared due to Battig and Megan Bruce crashing at turn 11. Battig, who had been attacking, got a five-place grid penalty.

When racing resumed on lap nine, Belofsky kept with Lindblom. Palmer clouted the kerbs as he tried Bansal’s inside into turn one, then nailed a turn eight dive but went off exiting turn 10 and was back in fifth.

Next time by, Palmer switched to the inside at the last moment to overtake Bansal into turn one but they had swapped places again by turn three.

Thereon Palmer had to defend against Thibaut Ramaekers, who had cleared Abdullah Kamel at turn one on his first attempt.

Al Azhari posted a 2m05.917s in FP2 on Thursday to lead Ramaekers and Belofsky by 0.320s and 0.502s respectively.

In Q2, Belofsky earned pole by 0.236s over Al Azhari. Palmer was 0.322s back in third, pipping Lindblom by 0.009s. Bansal and Ramaekers were next.

Belofsky went unchallenged in race two. Lindblom leapt up to second at the start. Palmer relegated Al Azhari to fourth, then forced him off on the straight before turn 11 where Al Azhari got back ahead on the inside.

Bansal and Kamel began lap two alongside Palmer, and Kamel made a triple pass into turn one. But he went off and rejoined down the order, while Bansal overtook Palmer.

Al Azhari locked up into turn one on lap seven, bringing Bansal onto his tail. He pulled off a move exiting the uphill turn 12 on lap eight, then Al Azhari dived down the inside at turn one. He got ahead, went too deep, and was back behind.

Palmer rubbed wheels with Al Azhari there on lap 10, overtaking on the outside. When Al Azhari took the outside at turn four, Ramaekers found space to pass into turn five.

Further ahead, Bansal caught Lindblom and they interlocked wheels entering the last lap. Bansal tried the outside of turn two, which became the inside for turn three and earned him second place. He then had to defend the position.

Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Adam Al Azhari 26m22.179s
2 Scott Lindblom +2.051s
3 Kit Belofsky +2.828s
4 Ary Bansal +6.138s
5 Theo Palmer +7.051s
6 Thibaut Ramaekers +7.418s
7 Abdullah Kamel +8.844s
8 Ava Dobson +9.363s
9 Esmee Kosterman +10.268s
10 Rachel Robertson +12.654s
Pole: Al Azhari, 2m06.699s
Fastest lap: Al Azhari, 2m06.907s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Belofsky 25m52.659s
2 Bansal +2.838s
3 Lindblom +3.774s
4 Palmer +8.000s
5 Ramaekers +8.946s
6 Al Azhari +10.116s
7 Kamel +11.583s
8 Kosterman +15.736s
9 Chiara Battig +17.503s
10 Dobson +19.211s
P: Belofsky, 2m07.066s
FL: Bansal, 2m08.187s

Championship standings
1 Belofsky 73   2 Al Azhari 64   3 Palmer 55   4 Lindblom 53   5 Ramaekers 38   6 Nina Gademan 33   7 Bansal 30   8 Kamel 28   9 Micallef 8   10 Battig 6

The post Kit Belofsky grows Saudi Arabian F4 lead in second Bahrain round appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Saudi Arabian F4

Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s second season began last week with a trip abroad to Bahrain.

Pre-season testing was on Friday, and Theo Palmer was fastest by just 0.002 seconds over Kit Belofsky. Adam Al Azhari and Scott Lindblom were 0.125s and 0.142s behind, and a second covered the top 11.

All of the cars, owned by championship promoter AlTawkilat, were operated by Meritus GP in 2024 and are being run by Hitech GP this year.

The season began on Saturday morning with a half-hour practice session, and Chiara Battig set a 2m07.393s to lead Palmer by 0.051s and Nina Gademan by 0.053s. Lindblom was 0.258s off in fourth.

Palmer comfortably returned the top in the day’s 20-minute qualifying session, claiming race one pole by 0.474s over Lindblom. Car racing newcomers Belofsky and Thibaut Ramaekers trailed by 0.635s and 0.699s respectively, with Gademan and Battig the only others within a second of pole.

Battig brought out red flags three minutes in by stopping at turn two. She restarted her car but stopped several more times.

Palmer swept to the inside at the start of race one, almost forcing off Lindblom who still squeezed into the lead at turn one. Belofsky retained third, Adam Al Azhari charged up from ninth to fourth, Faris Organji spun and Rachel Robertson crashed out. Late in the lap, Abdullah Kamel passed Gademan for fifth.

The lead was reclaimed by Palmer on the inside of turn one on lap two, and Belofsky pulled off the same move on lap five.

Palmer weaved down the pit straight the next two laps, and after failing at turn one Belofsky made a move stick on the inside of turn eight. Lindblom followed through after turn nine, and took the lead into turn 11. But he ran wide, and Palmer and Belofsky got back past. Belofsky became the leader again into the final corner.

Lindblom reclaimed second into turn one, then Gademan attacked Palmer at turn four but briefly lost out to Ramaekers.

At the last corner, Palmer passed Lindblom but they had swapped positions again by turn one. Belofsky broke clear, and at turn eight Palmer’s move down the inside broke off Lindblom’s front wing.

The safety car was called as lap 10 of 12 began, with Gademan ahead of Lindblom.

Palmer instantly got alongside Belofsky on the final lap restart, but Belofsky held his ground and won. Ramaekers went off at turn one, Gademan took second through turn six, and Kamel snuck past Lindblom exiting the last corner for fourth.

FP2 was on Sunday morning, and Battig set a 2m06.783s to be quickest. Gademan and Belofsky were 0.124s and 0.177s off her, and Palmer was 0.27s behind.

Al Azhari came to the fore in Q2, going fastest by 0.709s over Palmer. Ramaekers was third, 0.968s back, while Belofsky, Lindblom and Gademan were fifth, seventh and ninth.

Belofsky copped a 10-place grid penalty for speeding under red flag conditions, with Megan Bruce and Robertson each penalised three spots for speeding while yellow flags waved.

Ramaekers had wheelspin off the line in race two and lost out to Ava Dobson and a fast-starting Gademan, while Belofsky stalled.

Gademan and Ramaekers passed Dobson before the safety car was called due to debris. Bruce and Kamel needed new front wings, while Robertson retired when she reached the pits.

Racing resumed on lap three, and Dobson conceded places to Lindblom and Jacob Micallef. She was out of the race by turn five next time by, as Battig drove over her car.

After another safety car returned, racing continued on lap seven of 10. A recovering Belofsky went down the inside of Micallef at the last corner on lap eight for sixth, while Al Azhari gapped himself from Palmer to win.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Kit Belofsky TEAM 26m53.992s
2 Nina Gademan +1.506s
3 Theo Palmer +1.724s
4 Abdullak Kamel +3.316s
5 Scott Lindblom +3.352s
6 Thibaut Ramaekers +3.380s
7 Adam Al Azhari +3.650s
8 Chiara Battig +3.791s
9 Jacob Micallef +5.646s
10 Ava Dobson +6.008s
Pole: Palmer, 2m07.063s
Fastest lap: Belofsky, 2m08.552s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Al Azhari 26m07.032s
2 Palmer +1.120s
3 Gademan +1.774s
4 Ramaekers +3.409s
5 Lindblom +3.929s
6 Belofsky +5.285s
7 Micallef +6.535s
8 Kamel +11.724s
9 Megan Bruce +12.347s
10 Faris Organji +16.364s
P: Al Azhari, 2m07.006s
FL: Al Azhari, 2m07.478s

Championship standings
1 Belofsky 33   =2 Gademan 33   =2 Palmer 33   4 Al Azhari 31   5 Ramaekers 20   6 Lindblom 20   7 Kamel 16   8 Micallef 8   9 Battig 4   10 Bruce 2

The post Belofsky and Al Azhari win in Bahrain start to Saudi Arabian F4 season appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Meritus GP

The Saudi Arabian Formula 4 championship will return for a second season this year, with a five-round calendar.

Bahrain will host pre-season testing and the opening round this week, then a mid-week round two on October 15/16.

Next month there will be two rounds in one week, with races in Jeddah on November 10/11 and then November 14/15. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix venue will also host the finale on December 5/6.

In the inaugural season last year, all cars were centrally run by Meritus GP, which previously centrally ran F4 South East Asia. Local company AlTawkilat will be championship promoter this year, but has not stated if it will directly run the cars.

There have been 10 drivers announced so far, a group consisting mostly of 15-year-olds and including Red Bull juniors Scott Lindblom and Chiara Battig who are single-seater newcomers.

Lindblom was fourth in entry-level sportscar series Ginetta Junior this year, and in 2024 primarily raced in the OK kart class. The Swede won the title WSK Euro Series title and came eighth in Champions of the Future.

His year started by coming 11th in WSK’s Super Master Series for OK Junior karts, and in that category he was previously third in the World championship, fourth in WSK’s Euro Series and 15th in the CIK-FIA European championship.

Battig joined the Red Bull Junior Team less than seven weeks ago, having previously been part of the Alpine Formula 1 team’s female-focused Rac(H)er programme in 2023, and steps up from karting.

She came 15th in the European championship for OK karts this year, with her rookie season in senior karting starting on a victory-contending high but then mostly lacking results. The Swiss was 29th in CotF, but on OK-N karts is currently second in the CotF Academy Program.

Making the same step this weekend is Thibaut Ramaekers, the 2025 CIK-FIA world champion on OK karts. The Belgian claimed that title last month, after being CotF runner-up and fifth in the CIK-FIA European championship.

His 2025 began on X30 Senior karts, coming fifth in the IAME Winter Cup.

Faris Organji, 17, is one of three local drivers confirmed for Saudi Arabian F4 and will be debuting in single-seaters. The other two locals are F4 Middle East backmarkers Abdullah Kamel (16) and Farah Al Yousef (23), the latter of whom was the wildcard driver in the all-female F1 Academy series when it visited Jeddah this year.

Nina Gademan also has track knowledge and F4 experience from F1 Academy, where she currently sits sixth in the standings. The 22-year-old from the Netherlands started this year by coming 15th in Formula Winter Series.

Heading to Saudi Arabia from GB4, which now sits above F4 in the single-seater ladder, is Indian racer Ary Bansal and Ava Dobson. Last weekend Bansal became champion and 17-year-old American Dobson claimed her first podium.

Rounding out the grid is Adam Al Azhari. The Emirati was sixth in British F4 and 10th in F4 Middle East this year.

The post Saudi Arabian F4 attracts Red Bull juniors and world champion to grid appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: ART Grand Prix

Drivers with F1 logos on their overalls don’t downplay their chance of racing at the top level, especially if the F2 title is in their sights. But “there is no rule” that either leads to F1, and it can be costly thinking otherwise

In October last year, Formula Scout cast a warning to Formula 2 star Victor Martins that he needed to avoid repeating the path tread by his former team-mate Theo Pourchaire, who had won the F2 title and been racing in Super Formula and IndyCar.

Pourchaire’s aim had been to race in F1 with Sauber, which had backed him all the way from Formula 4, but ultimately made himself unsuitable for that opportunity in part due to the mental fragility shown as that dream kept failing to become reality.

It took three years in F2 with ART Grand Prix to become champion, and while he showed in many ways that he had grown as a driver and began his title-winning 2023 campaign “much more relaxed than last year”, his desire to impress Sauber (then known as Alfa Romeo Racing) with his F1 efforts behind-the-scenes contrasted with remarks that “I’m putting all my efforts to do a good job in F2” and particularly when doing F1 practice sessions could leave him “mentally, physically, really tired”.

“I’m young and I still have the time and I know I will have an [F1 race] opportunity in the future,” the 20-year-old stated confidently in the paddock during the F2 title decider, and while wearing Alfa Romeo overalls as he was on F1 practice duty.

After becoming champion though, Pourchaire could only wonder if his third year in F2 had been a redundant undertaking.

“There is no [rule], it’s not because you are an F2 champion that you will have a place in F1,” he said in disappointment. “I did my best. And the goal that Sauber Academy told me, it was to win the championship, and I did it.”

The expectations on Pourchaire in F2 had been set by his stunning weekend in Monaco as a rookie when he won the Monaco feature race from pole with ART GP and became the series’ youngest ever pole-sitter and victor in the process.

Talking of Victors, it was rookie team-mate Martins who was the fastest F2 driver in 2023 and that set expectations for 2024…

Pourchaire, Ayumu Iwasa & Martins

Martins arrived in F2 aged 21 – while Pourchaire departed aged 20 – and made the podium on debut but was not emotionally prepared for the step up. He said the biggest thing he learned from his first race was to “manage a bit more my emotion”, and like his team-mate that was a case of identifying a weakness and then making false starts in actually eliminating it.

“I got so much experience [from doing] so many years in Formula Renault and then Formula 3. I got a lot of maturity, I know how to manage myself, manage my emotion throughout the race.”

That quote is from two years ago, almost to the day, and thereon Martins dialled down the pace in the name of consistency and more importantly bringing home points. He came fifth in the 2023 standings, claiming three poles but only converting one into a victory. Like Pourchaire he chose to stay at ART GP for his second season, and there was further familiarity in his 2024 environment as it was his sixth year in the Alpine Academy. But F2’s new car provided unknowns that needed exploiting.

Martins also didn’t want to be driving anymore within the limits he had set himself as a rookie, to extract the maximum. But after two rounds in 2024 he was 18th in the standings with zero points, having racked up more crashes and penalties. He was adamant the title was his aim at this point, and believed no change in approach was needed following his bad start.

“I will say for sure, if I’m honest, it’s a big impact [on my title hopes]. But in the end, if I think like that and I try to find excuses or to understand – for sure I want to understand, but if I think too much about Jeddah and Bahrain, it’s not going anywhere,” he admitted to Formula Scout.

So Martins was looking ahead, rather than behind. He didn’t want to carry past mistakes in his mind as he went forward. But when they occurred again, primarily in qualifying, it tested both driver and team’s confidence in their approach.

Soon there were admissions about starting the season with the wrong approach, but accompanied with contrasting lines.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“We don’t need to like reinvent the world, we don’t need to be a magician, and do magical things. It’s just do better things, which are small things: better communication, better trust in ourselves, better serenity in our work.”

He also didn’t have F1 on his mind: “I’m only seeing an opportunity if I succeed, if I do well in F2. And that means it’s down to the work I will do, to the results I will show, and nothing else.”

That proved to be incorrect, since Alpine had multiple management changes and it was new eyes he needed to impress. Martins ended 2024 with a lower championship position and 43 less points than the year before, and without Alpine’s backing.

After Martins exited contention for a 2025 F1 seat with Alpine, his F2 results had begun to improve and he went from 17th to seventh in the standings during the season’s second half. However that once again raised expectations for the year after…

“I don’t feel pressure. If I’m honest, I felt more pressure last year, starting 2024, than now,” he said before this season began, admitting at ART GP “we weren’t knowing what we were doing last year” but “a different approach” now meant they did.

“I certainly maybe reached a point where when you have been three years in the same championship, you have no more pressure because no one is watching you anymore. So I’m just taking this one like this, just trying to enjoy it. It’s my last chance. I accept it. I know it. It’s the reality, and I just need to make the most out of it. And to do this, I just need to be focused on myself, the little details.”

Martins was 0.114 seconds shy of claiming pole for the opening round in Melbourne (although a grid penalty meant he later did for a race that then didn’t go ahead), the 11th time he had qualified on the front row in F2. Upon hearing that, he joked that “I look too old”, but that the result reflected the changed approach which leant more on looking back than forward.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“Where we were last year for the second half of the season, we used that positively during the winter to always like go even more, even further into some analysis. And I think also struggling a bit last year gave us extra motivation and saying to ourselves ‘we need to react, we need to do things we were not doing before’, for example.”

Collison damage ruled Martins out of the sprint race, then in round two at Bahrain he came 0.155s shy of another pole.

“We are back, definitely,” he said, full of pleasure about his car’s pace. “It’s a good spot for good opportunities tomorrow; going ahead with confidence, no pressure.”

With tyre degradation set to be a big factor, Martins notably said he would “use my experience emotionally [and] technically in the car” to maximise results.

But having also said there was a “mindset of you have nothing to lose” and “everything to play”, he dropped from ninth to 14th in the reversed-grid sprint race and finished the feature race – a proper test of tyre management in hot conditions – in fifth. The points earned lifted him to seventh in the standings, where he ended 2024 and below his and ART GP’s targets.

“F2 is really difficult and tough for the engineers to understand every time what’s going on in the car. Also ourselves as drivers, we sometimes do a mistake and we don’t understand where it’s coming from,” Martins said before those two races.

“So definitely a good communication, a good confidence between the two parts, myself and the team [is key], and I think we started to really be good last year from Barcelona where we knew what was wrong. And also on myself on the driving style, what was suiting the car or not,” he explained.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

“I’m sure right now if I had the car of last year, I would be much quicker than what I was doing last year with the same car because when it’s going well you just live on the momentum and that’s so, so much. There is so much difference in that also. So I think it’s a combination about everything.

“I’m not going to go into details, but for sure the Victor is not the same and the car is not the same as last year.”

Following another season start that hasn’t gone to plan despite rapid pace, Martins has been asked similar questions to 2024 and delivered similar answers about how relaxed he is about his results and future, but with some key differences. Including the fact his overalls beared the Williams F1 team’s logo for the first time after it signed him as a junior two weeks prior.

Formula Scout wanted Martins to go into details, particularly on the value of emotional experience and whether he could avoid the mental trappings Pourchaire fell into if ART GP proved competitive enough for his season to go to plan on-track.

“[I’m not] actually thinking about the future. For sure also being alone [without Alpine] at the start of the season helped me to kind of put this pressure away and say to myself ‘there is no more’. Let’s say I have no more career in single-seaters after this, I just enjoy as much as possible F2, and I think that’s the right way to go,” he replied.

“To only be in the moment, think about how to warm up your tyres, how to drive in turns one, turn two, turn three, and not further. And I think now I would just try to keep going like this.

“Having the Williams support also is great. For sure, it’s really good for my future and I thank them for that. But for sure I would try to keep going with the same mindset, which is enjoying as much as I do right now. Like my first F2 season, I was just going on the track and pushing 100%, sometimes a bit too much, but let’s say I will do the same [but applying] with the experience and I will use it like emotionally and all the things I know technically in the car to help me achieve the goal, which is to win the title this year and get into F1.”

Photo: Williams Racing

While Pourchaire’s form and feelings seemed to sway depending on how much he felt he had Sauber’s backing, Martins said the period in which he was no longer an F1 junior “was also an extra motivation” to do a third season in F2 with ART GP.

“To keep going, keep fighting, going for it, and showing your full potential every time, every time going on track and also off-track,” he told media including Formula Scout.

“But definitely being part of an F1 team is really good. You have this motivation to go further. You know you will have opportunities if you earn them. And definitely I still think I need to just focus on my F2 season: just delivering, doing what I know how to do. How to drive an F2 car, how to be in front and show them that I hope I will get opportunities in F1.

“I had the opportunity already in Monza driving the [2023 Williams] car. Was a great moment. Definitely being back in an F1 car was great. It’s been almost like a year.”

There’s still contradictions in Martins’ quotes, and he’s of course appreciative to be racing as a Williams junior rather than as a free agent. Even if the team is unlikely to have an F1 seat up for grabs for a long time.

Listening back to his statements from 2024, it’s not what’s being said but how it is that is the big difference in 2025. He is far more relaxed now ART GP has shaken off its qualifying struggles, and by no longer being in the Alpine Academy too.

If he does make his way to the top of the F2 standings, and is there by season-end, it will be interesting to see if a 24-year-old Martins considers that mission complete or if the relief of finally achieving that aim is tinged with regret.

The post Has a cooler kind of focus freed Victor Martins from F2’s title trappings? appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: Formula Motorsport Ltd

McLaren junior Alex Dunne triumphed emphatically in his first F2 feature race, scoring a landmark win for Ireland, for himself and his family after a trying year in FIA F3

Few would have bet that the first Formula 2 feature race of the year would have been won by a driver who finished 14th in the FIA Formula 3 championship last season. But that’s exactly what Alex Dunne achieved in Bahrain on Sunday with Rodin Motorsport, rapidly repaying the faith that backer McLaren demonstrated in promoting the 19-year-old to this level even when his most recent results might not have warranted such a leap.

Since welcoming Dunne into the ranks of its driver development programme last year, the Formula 1 team has – together with sponsors from his native Ireland – helped to elevate a career that could have been stopped in its tracks much earlier.

Now, he’s become the first driver representing his nation to win a race in F2 – or any era of F1’s premier feeder series – since Derek Daly 46 years ago.

“To be an Irish driver at this level, representing McLaren is something that’s pretty special for me and not only me, but also for my whole family as well,” Dunne tells media including Formula Scout after his win.

“Realistically, I think towards the end of my karting career, I never really expected to get this far. There was a couple of times where we were very close to stopping it all because financially we were struggling. So to have so much support from home and from McLaren and the people around me who have pushed me to get to where I am today is a very big thing.”

Second-tier single-seater races won by drivers representing Ireland

Dunne is already feeling the benefit of increasing support from the MDDP, which is now led by former Sauber chief Alessandro Alunni Bravi and whose guidance is channeled at least partly through Dunne’s driver coach Warren Hughes.

“Especially this year, they’ve really been pushing me on, trying to help me in the best way they can and they’ve really opened up the doors a lot more to me to try and help me develop and perform better as a driver, and that seems to be working so far,” he explains.

“The support from home has always been really good, but it’s definitely been another level this year, and every time I come in from a session or a race and I look at my phone, to see all the messages I have from people, it’s always, always kind things, which is really nice. The support has been really cool and it’s very special to me and something I hold close to my heart.”

While Dunne’s first congratulations in parc ferme last weekend came from McLaren chief Zak Brown, the warmest embrace was reserved for his greatest supporter of all – his father and former Formula Ford racer Noel.

“My dad has been with me my my entire career, and I think normally I’m not a very emotional person, but I probably felt a little bit emotional when I saw him getting out of the car and, you know, it was a very, very, very special thing for me.”

Dunne’s talent in a racing car has rarely been in doubt. After all, he claimed pole position in his first ever qualifying session, in Spanish Formula 4 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2021. He got closer than anyone to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Italian F4 the following year, when he also comfortably won the British F4 title. His performances earned him a call up to Ferrari’s annual scouting camp, but with limited funding to lean on, no deal was forthcoming.

Dunne chasing Antonelli (Photo: ACI Sport)

With Hitech GP he managed to step up to GB3 for 2023 and shone on trips to the European continent, with double wins at Spa and Zandvoort but only one victory across six weekends on British circuits, where rivals had been able to test more often.

Missing out to Callum Voisin in the title fight could have halted his momentum, but Dunne was rapid on his F3 test debut and then at the Macau Grand Prix with Hitech, and managed to do a deal to join MP Motorsport for 2024 with backing from McLaren, which came on board from round three. But two sprint race podiums were the best results he could manage.

“It’s been a long road to get here and, not only has it been a long road, but last year in F3 was more difficult than we would have liked, and we finished maybe not necessarily where my talent shows, let’s say. I felt like as a driver, I’m better than what I showed last year.

“So to have a result like this so early on in our F2 season is a very special feeling, and it probably means just as much to [Noel] as it does to me. So it’s a massive family thing. Pretty much everything in my motorsport career, I have thanks to him. He’s done so much for me, not only him but my mum as well. It’s not just him, it’s a family thing, and I have to say a massive thanks to both my parents.”

Dunne qualified fifth on his debut in Melbourne but was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for both races after his team was among those found to have illegally drilled holes to gather airflow data in pre-season testing. He raced to ninth, one place outside the points, in the sprint race. The feature race was cancelled due to heavy rain, there was some telling signs he had pace left to unlock when the paddock headed to Bahrain for an in-season test and then last weekend he qualified fourth.

“Generally our overall pace has been pretty strong, pretty consistent,” he says. “There were a couple of things in Melbourne and also in the test that as a driver I was struggling a little bit with the car, so we changed a couple of things coming into this weekend, to make it a little bit easier for me and I think it’s worked.”

The nature of modern F2 means that any individual result has to be taken in its context, and for Dunne’s victory, that context is the notably strong record that Rodin has at the track. The team was in its previous identity as Carlin when F2 debuted its previous-generation car there in 2018, and it took a one-two with Lando Norris and Sergio Sette Camara. Carlin had no more wins that season, and when the current car debuted last year it was a similar story. Zane Maloney’s double win in the the first weekend of the campaign were Rodin’s only victories of 2024.

“The team has done a mega job,” Dunne says. “I knew the pace was there to have a good result, but I think naturally even if you know the pace is there you probably would never expect a [dominant] result like this.

“But the thing that makes it even sweeter is after the race we had yesterday. I was a bit disappointed with myself towards the end of the sprint race. We started [it] really strong and then after the second safety car restart… I hold myself to a certain level, and I don’t think it was at that level after the second safety car restart.

“So, to bounce back like that in a dominant fashion is a nice way to redeem myself and pay back the team.”

Dunne was moving forward from seventh on the reversed grid in the sprint race and was sitting fourth when the race restarted with five laps remaining. At that point he was two places ahead of Campos Racing’s race winner Pepe Marti.

“I had made some really good moves and I was on a roll, let’s say, and I was constantly moving forward, and after that second safety car restart when it all bunched up again, I just tried to do too much in one go,” admits Dunne.

“I should have just been patient and waited and, if I ended up finishing P4, then great, but [by] trying to finish P3 instead of P4, I ended up finishing outside the points with a broken front wing. It was just one of those things where I should have been a bit more patient, but it’s something I’ve definitely learned from and I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

Dunne got up from fourth to second at the start of the feature race behind Invicta Racing’s poleman Leonardo Fornaroli and seemed happy at first to sit behind his fellow rookie, before he closed up and then launched a move on lap seven.

Once in the lead, Dunne effortlessly pulled away – and did so again after emerging from his pitstop just in front of ART Grand Prix’s F2 veteran Victor Martins.

“Initially I hadn’t planned to go straight for the lead,” Dunne explains. “A couple of laps before I passed Leo I didn’t really feel like I was necessarily the quicker car. Then there was like a switch between pace. Initially I didn’t necessarily feel strong and then from one lap to the next it waslike a big deficit. That’s when I went for the move and after that it seemed like the pace was just really strong until the end of the race.

“Once we got in the lead, and once I broke DRS to Leo, we could see that the pace was strong to have a good result, so I just kept on pushing on, but I tried my best not to push too much. When you’re in a position like that and you’re feeling comfortable and driving away, it’s relatively easy to lead yourself down the wrong road and push a little bit too hard. So I tried to manage that and I asked the team for updates all the time, to make sure I understood what was going on behind me, and we managed it well.

“Moving forward, qualifying is a bigger thing to me than the race, to be honest. If you qualify at the front, the rest is how it is. We will just keep on focusing on that but I feel pretty comfortable. If we keep on performing and doing a good job, I think we are in a good place.”

If this form does carry on, how long until Dunne gets a taste of F1 machinery with McLaren? He is the most senior MDDP member aside from IndyCar star Pato O’Ward, and has already been made McLaren’s Formula E reserve driver aged 19.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“I don’t know how much I can say,” Dunne responds when asked if F1 outings could be coming this year. “I think I have to wait and see. Naturally motorsport is a performance-led thing, and if I keep on going in the direction we’re going at the moment, then I don’t see why, you know, the chance of driving an F1 car isn’t possible.

“I’m the only driver in F2 as a part of McLaren, so that will be something hopefully in my favour. And if I just keep on focusing on myself… you know, there’s no point in me thinking about F1 right now. I’m not an F1 driver. You could say I’m close, but realistically, I’m not even close to F1 yet, so there’s no point in me thinking about F1.

“I just focus on what I can do in F2 and if I keep on performing at a high level, then hopefully the opportunity will arise.”

The post What makes Alex Dunne’s early F2 success so special appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne took a dominant first Formula 2 win in the Bahrain feature race.

Dunne cycled into the lead early on and stayed out a lap later than the other frontrunners. He was able to get out of the pits just ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, and quickly got his tyres working to pull away for a dominant victory.

Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli started from pole. Despite a strong getaway he quickly came under pressure from Dunne, but it took until lap seven for the McLaren junior to make an overtake happen.

Like most of the drivers at the front of the field, both started the race on the quicker soft compound tyres, and the highest-placed driver to start on the harder compound was Luke Browning. The Hitech GP driver started third, but had slipped back to 10th by the time Dunne passed Fornaroli.

Browning’s battle for the first part of the race was with fell hard-shod driver Joshua Duerksen. Browning found a way past the AIX Racing man for ninth, and was gifted more of an advantage when a problem with the right-rear tyre cost Duerksen time during his pitstop. 

A relatively early stop for Martins had enabled him to jump Fornaroli, and almost get ahead of Dunne too but he later paid the price for having a longer second stint while the soft-shod Browning rocketed up to fourth.

It did not take Browning to utilise his tyre advantage to overtake Fornaroli and then Martins. He was running second by lap 23 of 32, and despite his quicker pace the gap that already existed to Dunne looked too large to make up before race-end. He had to settle for second, 8.244 seconds behind the winner.

Fornaroli took third from Martins, then came under pressure from Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti late on. The pair ran side-by-side on the penultimate lap and almost made contact, but Fornaroli held onto the position and took the points lead.

Martins finished fifth, holding off MP Motorsport’s pre-race points leader Richard Verschoor and Hitech’s Dino Beganovic.

Campos’s Arvid Lindblad was eighth, ahead of Prema’s Gabriele Mini and Duerksen, who won a tight four-car battle for the final point.

Race results (32 laps)

The post Dunne dominant in the desert for maiden F2 victory appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Richard Verschoor has moved to the top of the championship standings in Formula 2 after erstwhile points leader Joshua Duerksen was disqualified from the sprint race at Bahrain.

The pair had finished second and third in that encounter, putting AIX Racing driver Duerksen on 16 points and MP Motorsport’s Verschoor on 13. By taking victory, Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti sat third in the standings on 11 points.

But post-race the diffuser strake on Duerksen’s AIX Racing-run car was found be lower than the minimum height allowed by two millimetres, even after a five-millimetre tolerance was applied. The subsequent disqualification has promoted Hitech GP’s Dino Beganovic onto the podium and means Duerksen loses six points and drops to fourth in the standings.

It is the second time in Verschoor’s five-year F2 career that he has led the championship, which he first managed when he won the first race of the 2022 season.

AIX Racing driver Duerksen had won the opening sprint race of this season in Melbourne to take the points lead, and the cancellation of the feature race there meant he left with a two-point gap to Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli.

That effectively became a zero-point margin after Fornaroli provisionally earned two points for feature race pole at Bahrain by topping qualifying, but Duerksen established himself at the top again with his podium. Verschoor now leads Marti by two points, with Fornaroli in third.

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne has retained his 19th place finish in the Bahrain sprint race following Duerksen’s disqualification, after two five-second penalties were set to drop him to 20th. The first was for breaching delta requirements during a safety car period, and the second was for making contact with ART Grand Prix’s Ritomo Miyata. He received a penalty point for both offences.

The post Verschoor becomes F2 points leader as Duerksen gets disqualified appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

The two FIA Formula 3 Championship races at Bahrain this weekend are taking place in the early afternoon, pitting drivers and cars against very hot conditions.

An ambient air temperature of 31C is expected for the start of Saturday’s sprint race, with similar warmth expected for Sunday.

Bahrain’s abrasive track surface will heat up tyres quickly too, meaning degradation will be a challenge on both days.

“For the races it will be quite tricky with the tyres, but especially when it’s going to be very hot, even more than the test [at the track]. And on the test it was already tough, so I think this is a big topic,” said Trident’s Rafael Camara, who has qualified on pole for the feature race.

Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin, who qualified second, added: “It’s going to be toasty [with tyre degradation]. We’re in the height of the day for pretty much both races. It’s set to be pretty warm compared to the test as well. So I’m expecting it to be a hot topic, but we’ve done our prep, we’ve done the homework, so I think we’re ready for it. And we’ll definitely see the drivers who have trained the hardest.”

Trident’s Charlie Wurz put more emphasis on the physical challenge that the hot conditions will present.

“It’ll be hot, it’ll be physical and that’s what I enjoy. And if you put in the work during the winter training, then you’ll get the rewards during the races. The most tough races, especially. So I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

The post F3’s sunny start times for Bahrain races “a hot topic” with drivers appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Leonardo Fornaroli took his maiden Formula 2 pole position in qualifying at Bahrain.

The Invicta Racing driver set the pace early on but was knocked down the order by a late flurry of flying laps. Fornaroli responded with a new personal best, setting a 1m44.008s that went unmatched.

ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins came closest to Fornaroli, ending qualifying 0.155 seconds off pole. He also qualified second in Melbourne, and was second fastest when F2 tested at Bahrain last month.

The 22-car field diverged into two different run plans in the first half of qualifying. Half of the drivers took to the track straight away, while the remainder held back. Of those on track from the off, Fornaroli was fastest, ahead of Martins and Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne.

Roughly one third of the way through the session, the other half of the field left the pits to embark on their first runs. Nobody could match the pace set by Fornaroli, but Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti and MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor jumped to second and third respectively.

In the final minutes of qualifying the whole field embarked on their second runs, and Martins briefly knocked Fornaroli off top spot as he lowered the benchmark time by almost half a second. But Fornaroli was able to respond, qualifying at the front for what is his third race weekend in F2.

Hitech GP’s Luke Browning was next best, improving with his final flying lap and coming 0.284s short of the pace. Dunne was 0.316s back in fourth, ahead of Fornaroli’s team-mate Roman Stanek, Verschoor and Trident’s Sami Meguetounif.

After a strong performance on his first run, Marti could not match others’ gains with his second and ended up in 11th place behind AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen. He will start from reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race, with Hitech’s Dino Beganovic alongside him on the front row.

Qualifying results

The post Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli claims maiden F2 pole appeared first on Formula Scout.