Irish driver Dunne breaks new ground as he gets Formula 1 opportunity
Racing prodigy Alex Dunne is set to become the first Irish driver to take part in a Formula 1 weekend for 22 years.
The Offaly teenager is taking the place of McLaren's Lando Norris for Friday's practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix.
In doing so, the 19-year-old is the first Irish driver since Ralph Firman in 2003, who raced under an Irish licence for Jaguar, to take part in a Formula 1 event.
F1 teams are now obliged to allow a rookie driver behind the wheel twice in each of their cars, giving inexperienced drivers the potential chance to ride the megacars four times in public.
And now Dunne, who is currently leading the race to be the F2 champion, is getting the keys to the MCL39 during a grand prix weekend.
"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to drive during FP1 in Austria. I'm really looking forward to getting laps in behind the wheel of the MCL39 and supporting the team with the setup for the race weekend ahead," Dunne said.
"I've been preparing well for the sessions, taking part in Testing of Previous Cars tests in the MCL60 and spending time on the simulator, which has been a fantastic learning experience.
"Thank you to Zak, Andrea and Alessandro for their faith in me. It's a great step within my development with the McLaren Driver Development Programme, and I'm really excited to join the team trackside."
F1 team principal Andrea Stella said: 'It's great to be able to give Alex the opportunity to run in free practice one, and for him to get valuable time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car as part of his development.
'The team are pleased to be working with him more closely, and for his support across the weekend, where he will be providing useful feedback to help with the car's set-up.
'The rookie sessions are fantastic for seeing the talent of tomorrow and enabling that rare chance to get time in a current car, so we look forward to seeing him on track.'
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