TRIPLE-HEADER HIGHLIGHT: Alexander Dunne’s Barcelona Sprint Race fightback

11 June 2025

After an opening lap collision in the Monte Carlo Feature Race and a pit lane incident in the Barcelona Free Practice, Alexander Dunne’s run to the podium in the Sprint was exactly what he needed after a turbulent few days.

The Rodin Motorsport driver started down in P19 after a culmination of two separate grid penalties dropped him 13 places down the order after qualifying fifth.

But a spirited drive to P2, thanks to an inspired strategy call, was exactly what Dunne was looking for, with that result helping him leave Barcelona at the top of the Standings.

So, as we continue to look at the top moments from our most recent triple-header, here is how the McLaren-backed talent went from P19 to P2 in 26 laps.

A lot of those positions were made up at the start. A superb getaway of the line and a dive to the inside at Turn 1 put Dunne up to 13th at the end of Lap 1.

However, on to Lap 4, and the 18-year-old lost a place on the run to Turn 7 to PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì.

Dunne finished second in the Barcelona Sprint Race after starting down in P19

From then on, Dunne was stuck in a DRS train that went from leader Jak Crawford to Sami Meguetounif in P16, as the drivers managed their Hard tyres.

But on Lap 14 of 24, Dunne moved up to 12th. Joshua Duerksen retired to the pitlane with an issue from P4, while Richard Verschoor and Arvid Lindblad collided at Turn 1, sending the Campos Racing driver into a spin and to the back of the field.

Dunne was now coming under pressure from Oliver Goethe on Lap 18, but just ahead of them, the PREMA pair of Sebastián Montoya and Minì collided at Turn 1.

Triple-header highlights: Montoya’s pitlane-to-podium Feature Race in Monte Carlo

Minì’s car needing to be cleared meant the Safety Car was called upon, and this prompted plenty of activity in the pit lane.

Verschoor was the lead driver on the Softs ahead of Dunne, Victor Martins, Meguetounif, Amaury Cordeel, Rafael Villagómez, Montoya, Cian Shields, and Lindblad. This led to a split field when racing resumed on Lap 21.

Verschoor and Dunne were flying immediately, both getting past Goethe at Turn 1.

Dunne fell behind Gabriele Minì after the opening lap of the race

The pair were almost working through the field together, as Dunne followed the MP Motorsport driver through past Dino Beganovic, Josep María Martí and Roman Stanek to put them in P6 and P7 respectively one lap after the restart.

Once again, the duo put on the perfect double act, getting past Ritomo Miyata and Kush Maini in the opening two sectors of Lap 22 to put them into the top five.

Bruno Michel’s triple-header debrief: Another F2 title fight shaping up nicely

Verschoor then overtook Leonardo Fornaroli to get on to the podium at the penultimate corner, while Dunne used DRS to overtake the Invicta Racing driver down the Main Straight.

With the MP driver having got past Luke Browning for P2 at Turn 7, Dunne followed him through a couple of corners later to get on to the podium on Lap 23.

The Dutchman started Lap 24 of 26 by taking the lead from Crawford, and the Rodin rookie made a nice move round the outside of the DAMS Lucas Oil driver at Turn 3, leaving them in a straight fight for the win.

Dunne finished right behind the winner Richard Verschoor

While Dunne was within DRS range for the final two laps, he could not make a move on Verschoor and settled for an unexpected P2, with Rafael Villagómez also fighting through to seal a maiden F2 podium in third.

Speaking after the race, Dunne said: “I definitely didn’t wake up this morning thinking I was going to be sat here. I think it’s a nice result to get, and some good points.”

It was a memorable afternoon in Barcelona that emphasised the importance of making the right strategic call and that reminded us anything can happen in Formula 2.