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Rodin Motorsport 2025 Preview: Two fresh faces braced to lead the charge
When Formula 2 entered its new era with a brand-new car in 2024, Rodin Motorsport were the fastest out of the blocks in Bahrain, becoming the first team at a season-opener to sweep both races.
They achieved five more podiums last year, all coming from Zane Maloney, but they wound up eighth in the Teams’ Championship, while the Bajan driver finished fourth in the Standings.
Rodin will no doubt want to do better in 2025 and in Christian Mansell and Alexander Dunne they are bringing a fast, but young driver pairing to a competitive grid.
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So, do they have what it takes to lift the team back up the order?
Christian Mansell is back for his first full season in Formula 2 after competing in the final three rounds of 2024 with TRIDENT – scoring points in three of the six races he took part in.
The Australian impressed on debut in Baku, racing at a track that he had not visited before, qualifying 10th, which gave him reverse grid pole.
Prior to that, he fought for the Formula 3 title until the final round in Monza. The 19-year-old produced a consistent second campaign, achieving five podiums.
Mansell could not quite make it to the top step, but he held his head high knowing that more often than not he achieved the maximum result possible at each event.
He will be keen to continue that form with Rodin, who know him quite well. Mansell raced for the team – under their previous guise as Carlin – in both the 2020 British F4 and 2021 GB3 Championships.
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They celebrated 10 podiums, which include three victories, in their two seasons together, finishing seventh in the British F4 Standings and third in GB3.
Mansell has raced for a new team in each year since 2022. So, returning to a familiar environment should ease the transition, and given that he also has three rounds of experience to rely on, a see fast start to the season could well be on the cards.
Alexander Dunne, however, has not previously raced for Rodin, but did take part in the three days of post-season testing with them in Abu Dhabi, where he thoroughly impressed.
The Irishman seemed to adapt very well quickly to the Formula 2 car and was constant fixture at the top of the leaderboard, especially on Days 2 and 3.
The 19-year-old was quite happy with how he performed and will be keen to continue that at pre-season testing in Barcelona, before the first round in Melbourne.
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Dunne makes the step up to F2 following a lone campaign in Formula 3 last year where he showed plenty of promise. Two podiums are on his record and while he felt he had the pace to do more, for various reasons it did not happen.
The McLaren Development Driver Programme talent was involved in a few incidents, but also had to contend with a bit of bad luck, especially in Qualifying with Red Flags and penalties playing their part.
Dunne will hope that is not the case this year as his single seater racing record shows his potential. He won the 2022 British F4 title and finished as the runner-up in Italian F4 that same year, before again placing second in the 2023 GB3 Championship.
Dunne makes the step up to F2 following a lone campaign in Formula 3 last year where he showed plenty of promise. Two podiums are on his record and while he felt he had the pace to do more, for various reasons it did not happen.
The McLaren Development Driver Programme talent was involved in a few incidents, but also had to contend with a bit of bad luck, especially in Qualifying with Red Flags and penalties playing their part.
Dunne will hope that is not the case this year as his single seater racing record shows his potential. He won the 2022 British F4 title and finished as the runner-up in Italian F4 that same year, before again placing second in the 2023 GB3 Championship.