Surprise reports suggest massive F1 move for Alex Dunne in 2026

We could be seeing a lot more of Alex Dunne next yar

GP Blog are reporting that Dunne is being considered for Cadillac’s F1 debut in 2026, with it looking “increasingly unlikely” that Sergio Perez will come out of retirement to join them.

Dunne, just 19, made his F1 debut this season by filling in for Lando Norris for McLaren in the first practice of the Austrian Grand Prix, coming in just a tenth of a second behind team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The Offaly man is still in with a chance of winning the F2 championship despite becoming unstuck recently in Belgium and Austria, and sits in fifth place, 29 points off leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

GP Blog do suggest 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich is the frontrunner, but that Dunne and Luke Browning are also on the shortlist.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok said in June that McLaren should be looking to ‘loan out’ Dunne for 2026 to get experience.

"If I was McLaren now, I'd be trying to do a deal with Cadillac or someone like that to farm him out," said Chandhok.

"Based on everything he's shown – he's leading the F2 championship, they've seen potential in testing, and we’re now seeing it publicly.

"You want to find him a seat somewhere to build up some racing experience. I'd be trying to get him a deal somewhere else for a period of time.

"Farm him out, have him on some sort of tether that they can pull him back in, in the way Mercedes did with George Russell in the past."

After a break, Dunne returns to F2 in the first weekend of September in Monza, before four more races to finish the 2025 season.