Not since Ralph Firman in 2003 has the green-and-gold been represented on the grid. Yet F2 racer and McLaren junior driver Dunne, from County Offaly, is keen to change that, as he tells Kieran Jackson

"Excuse me?" I ask, slightly perplexed at the informality of the scene ahead. "I've got an interview with Alex..." At the far end of the Rodin Motorsport truck, which houses a few tables, a dozen personnel poring over data on laptops and a built-in racing simulator, an Irish teenager pops his head out, next to the makeshift cockpit. "Hi... yep let's do it." And so, Alex Dunne leads me into a brightly lit meeting room opposite and closes the doors.

No team representative is present with us. No time limits on the interview, either. Just a journalist and the driver, with a desk in between. It is all rather refreshing. Certainly, compared to the heavily controlled environment of the modern F1 paddock, it is like night and day.

Naturally, the high-rise motorhomes and hospitality units across the way is where Dunne craves to be, much like the 21 other young starlets plying their trade in the helter-skelter 14-round, 28-race Formula 2 season in 2025. All the more, then, for the understated teen from County Offaly to keep his feet on the ground.

"Jumping into F2 as a rookie, I know that if I go really well this year, there is a relatively high possibility of being in F1," he says, with two wins in Bahrain and Imola to his name. "But the thing is, that applies to a lot of other drivers on the grid too.

"It needs to be a good year. But there is something about not putting too much pressure on it, too. If a weekend doesn't go well, you can quickly get into a downward spiral. But I've got full belief we can still have a good year."

It has been a challenging summer of competition for the Irishman. From a position of leading the F2 championship after round six in Barcelona, Dunne is now fifth, a daunting 50 points off leader Leonardo Fornaroli ahead of round 12 in Baku this weekend. The 19-year-old has endured one damaging disqualification and one penalty which demoted him from first to ninth, costing him vital points, while last week in Monza, he was powerless as Arvid Lindblad smashed into his car in the feature race.

With just three weekends and six races left, Dunne needs a minor miracle. Recent form will irk the Irishman, particularly given his F2 frustrations have come amid a period of great pride, with impressive F1 practice outings for McLaren. On his debut, in Austria back in June, he was fourth-fastest on the leaderboard and just 0.069 seconds off Oscar Piastri.

"It surprised me and it didn't," he reflects, having become the first Irish driver since Ralph Firman in 2003 to take part in an F1 session.

"I did tests in Zandvoort and Austin this year and I was pretty much straight away on the pace. And in Austria, I just felt very comfortable early on - definitely more comfortable than I would have expected.

"The run plan was mainly for data, a smooth session, and to make sure there were no incidents. Jumping in against the best drivers in the world... it was always going to be difficult to compete straight away. But those last couple of laps at the end of the session is where I found my feet.

"It was cool afterwards. I'm quite a private person, but the level of attention around me has gone up quite a lot. I don't want to downplay it... but it was just practice."

Son of Noel Dunne, a former racing driver who twice triumphed in Irish Formula Ford FG1600 in the 1990s, Dunne Jnr. caught the motorsport bug early on.

From spinning on his karting debut, aged nine, at Athboy Karting Centre in County Meath, something then "just clicked" at his second race. Quickly, he experienced regular victories and moved to compete in the UK, where he admits he "got his arse kicked" at first.

Was a move away from Offaly, despite his young age, inevitable? "The main thing was the facilities in Ireland and the level of karting," he explains. "The jump was very big in the UK. It shows why most kids go to the UK for karting. Flights and accommodation for races abroad as well, it all comes under funding. Even now, getting funding is still difficult."

Having been in a scouting camp for the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2022 - where Ollie Bearman emerged from - McLaren picked up Dunne at the start of last year. As well as FP1 sessions, he's also taken part in rookie sessions in Formula E. But electric racing is not at the forefront of his thinking right now, nor the thinking of his dad, who acts as his manager. The Dunnes want a seat at the top table.

"Of course, I want to be an F1 driver," he says, with spots on the 2026 grid looking thin after Cadillac's recent driver announcement. "How or when that happens? I don't know. And while that's the ultimate goal, my attitude has always been to just focus on F2."

In many ways, with little room available for an F1 rookie next year, not winning F2 this year might do him a favour. The F2 champion is not allowed to race in the series again, much to the frustration of former winners Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire. More experience, perhaps, could make a transition upwards somewhat smoother for 2027.

"I've spoken about this with McLaren," Dunne adds. "If I focus too much on getting an F1 seat, I can quickly get wrapped up in it and forget about what I need to do in F2."

Yet, as Gabriel Bortoleto's recent transition from McLaren junior to Sauber driver shows, an F2 triumph can also be the stepping stone. "Realistically, I know the best opportunity I'm going to give myself will be by winning F2," he concludes. "That's where the focus is."

Meet Alex Dunne, the 19-year-old eyeing Ireland's first F1 seat in 23 years