McLaren starlet at risk of race BAN

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Spanish Grand Prix

McLaren starlet at risk of race BAN

Alex Dunne has had a chaotic week and a half

Chris Deeley

Friday 30 May 2025 18:58

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McLaren starlet Alex Dunne has followed up a controversial Monaco Grand Prix weekend with a fresh moment at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Dunne refused to let Victor Martins overtake his Rodin Motorsport car going into the first corner of last weekend's F2 race, spearing the Williams newbie into the barrier in an incident which brought out a red flag.

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Dunne and Martins were unsurprisingly unable to restart when the red flag conditions were lifted, with Richard Verschoor, Gabriele Mini, Ritomo Miyata, Josep Maria Marti and Max Esterson all also out.

The FIA handed Dunne a 10-place grid penalty for the incident, to be served this weekend at the sprint race, but the McLaren youngster has been involved in another incident and been penalised again – picking up his seventh and eighth penalty points of the season and moving him closer to a race ban which comes into affect after collecting 12 points in a one-year period.

Dunne hit with second F2 penalty

Dunne clonked into the back of Martins once again in Barcelona on Friday, arriving into the pit entry far faster than the Williams driver and slamming his brakes on too late to avoid contact.

The Irish teenager will now be serving two grid penalties for the sprint race – the ten-place penalty carried over from last weekend and a three-place penalty for this new incident.

He'll also take a three-place grid penalty for the feature race thanks to the pit lane incident, potentially impacting his attempt to go top of the F2 standings.

Dunne comes into the weekend second in the championship, just three points behind Luke Browning after five rounds after dropping points last weekend thanks to his chaotic Monaco start.

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