Dunne “finding the limits” ahead of Imola Qualifying after making fast start

16 May 2025

It was a great start to Round 4 for Rodin Motorsport and Alexander Dunne in particular, after the Irish driver topped the times in Free Practice.

A 1:27.907 put him P1 in the first session of the weekend, and he was very happy with the work he and the team put in.

Having tested a McLaren Formula 1 car last week around Zandvoort, Dunne said his readjustment to Formula 2 was smooth and he was happy to hit the ground running around Imola.

“It was good, but I mean there’s no trophy for Practice,” the Rodin driver said after the session. “It’s only FP but I think it’s still a good start. I’m happy with the car, and I think the biggest thing for me was just adapting as quickly as I could after driving the F1 car last week.

“I had a long time to think about what we’re doing this weekend in between, but still to make sure that I understood the approach and the differences between the two cars, that was the initial plan for the beginning of the session.

“Then we just build on that through the runs. In the end, my lap was good. The car felt pretty good, so I’m feeling confident for Qualifying but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

While he ended up topping the times, Dunne did take a few attempts to get there after several lock-ups left him deep at Turn 2 before nailing his fastest time.

The McLaren Development Driver was more than satisfied with his work though, saying that his mistakes were about finding the limits ahead of Qualifying in order to maximise when the time comes.

Dunne was pleased with how Practice went despite a few lock-ups on the way to the fastest time

“I had a couple of lock-ups, I think I went straight on twice in Turn 2. But I think that’s just about finding the limits and, in the end, I went off twice and learned, put everything together for the last lap, so it was just about finding the limits.

“Everyone was kind of testing what the car can take, so I think the conditions were pretty good. The track felt good, and I’d say there was more grip than expected, especially after the rain last night. So all in all, it felt good out there.”

Having run the red-walled Soft Pirelli tyres in Practice, drivers will now switch to the Purple Supersoft tyres for Qualifying.

Dunne believes that there shouldn’t be much of a difference between the two softest compounds in the F2 Pirelli range and says that the weight difference will likely play a bigger role, with less fuel on board in comparison to Practice.

He will be aiming to secure a maiden Formula 2 pole position, having earned his first win back in Bahrain in the Feature Race.

“The team have said that usually, the jump between the Soft and Supersoft tyres is very, very small. So from a driver’s point of view, I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot of adapting that we’ll have to do.

“I think there’s probably going to be more of an effect from less fuel than the tyres themselves. It’s hard to say but we’ll just have to wait and see. I think we’re in a good place to have a good Qualifying though.”