MN’s deputy editor pays tribute to British F4’s extraordinary new champion Alex Dunne
In a past month or so where it seems all the rage to confirm your championship title in an unusual way – and when you’re not on track – Alex Dunne at last clinching British Formula 4’s crown 10 days ago was in keeping. In fact, his way likely trumped the lot. Not only was he some 700 miles away from where his championship was actually decided, he also, to prevail, had to hope his closest rival would lap quickly.
At this point you’re probably after an explanation. Well firstly to clarify 16-year-old Dubliner Dunne’s odd location, he is doing an Italian F4 campaign this year (where he sits second in the table) as well as the British contest. And British F4’s Brands Hatch season closer and the Italian round at Monza clashed. He chose to be at Monza.
While one way of scoring points in British F4 is by gaining places in the race where the grid’s top 10 is reversed. So after Silverstone’s penultimate round left Dunne tantalisingly shy of mathematical certainty as champion, second-in-the-table Ollie Gray could only get enough points to deny him via qualifying 17th or lower. As it was, Gray qualified second.
The triumphant Dunne from afar allowed himself “a little bit of celebration with my dad”, though admitted it was “definitely disappointing” to have to mark his title in such an unorthodox way. His Hitech GP team compensated somewhat though by inviting a cardboard cut-out Dunne to the victory party…
But in a sense the odd title clinch was appropriate, as there’s little ordinary about Dunne. He was a late entry in British F4 this year, indeed his appearance at Donington Park’s triple-header season opener was reported as a one-off. Yet he immediately took two wins and a second.
Since he’s dominated the championship in a way not seen, and totalled a record 11 wins. This in a contest that Lando Norris, Colton Herta and Oscar Piastri have partaken, and this year had no fewer than three members of Formula 1 academies plus strong-looking returnees.
Yet Dunne took it all in his stride; he is as composed as he is talented. “It wasn’t daunting at all,” he says of his opposition. “I knew what I was up against and a lot of the drivers who are on the academies I’ve beat in the past. Racing against Formula 1 juniors, if anything, just makes we want to perform better.”
Indeed Dunne as early as his Donington debut knew there was a chance he could solve his impending date-clash problem by sealing the British F4 title early.
“After the dominance we had at the start of the year in Donington I pretty much had a good idea on what [which race in the clash] we were going to do, so throughout the year I knew that we were probably going to end up doing Monza,” he says.
“Things were going really well, we were always at the sharp end, pace was always really good, so I was pretty confident that we could wrap it [the British F4 championship] up a round early. I knew it was going to be tough but I was confident that it was definitely possible.”
But still, Dunne doesn’t underestimate his title achievement. “It means a lot,” he confirms. “There’s a lot of people who have raced in this championship who are top-level drivers now, so winning such a prestigious championship and winning it by such a margin with three races to go is pretty special.”
Dunne grew up around motorsport, as his dad Noel was a successful Formula Ford racer, and his parents met because his mum worked at a race circuit.
As for Dunne’s next move, for 2023, “I have a couple of different offers to go here and there, but there’s no decisions set in stone yet,” he explains. “Definitely it will be F3 of some form but I don’t really know what championship yet.”
And part of the consideration is that he’s come to the attention of none other than Ferrari, as he recently was invited to a Ferrari Driver Academy scouting camp. “I would like to say I did a good job,” Dunne notes of how he performed there. He’ll find out soon if he’s invited to the next stage with the chance of joining the academy itself.
“It’s nice to know that my talent is being recognised and that people at Formula 1 level are watching me,” Dunne adds. “F1 is definitely the goal that I’m working towards.”
“His way of claiming the title was appropriate, as there’s little ordinary about Dunne”