Red Bull are having doubts over the potential signing of former McLaren junior driver Alex Dunne, according to reports. The young Irishman is yet to find a new team after leaving the British outfit earlier this year in a bombshell development. He was rated highly by the Woking squad and replaced Lando Norris in FP1 at the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
In spite of Dunne’s potential, his contract was surprisingly terminated by McLaren ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. Shortly afterwards, it emerged that Red Bull were in talks with the 19-year-old over potentially moving into their junior setup. However, it has since been reported that senior figures are not entirely convinced about signing him.
A handful of mistakes in his F2 campaign have left Dunne with 10 penalty points on his super licence. As a result, not everybody within Red Bull is eager to snap him up, according to RacingNews365.
The report states that Red Bull previously discussed a deal that would see Dunne remain in F2 next season, ahead of a potential promotion to F1 the following year.
That proposal is still believed to remain on the table, but there is still no agreement between the two parties and some Red Bull figures are having doubts because of his penalty points situation.
Red Bull unanimously agree that Dunne is a quick driver with plenty of potential. However, there are said to be concerns about whether he truly has what it takes to forge a successful F1 career.
The sudden nature of his McLaren exit is also thought to be a sticking point and it remains to be seen if a deal with Red Bull will materialise over the coming weeks.
It comes after Helmut Marko confirmed that discussions had taken place with Dunne, describing him as a ‘very fast’ driver with a bright future.
“We’re in discussions, now that he’s free,” he confirmed to BBC Sport. “He’s very aggressive, fast and has good car control. He’s making lots of mistakes as well, at the moment, but he’s very like a Red Bull driver.”
Dunne had also reportedly been in discussions with Alpine, but those talks have now subsided after no progress was made with the French outfit.
Only time will tell if Dunne will secure a contract with an F1 team ahead of the 2026 campaign as he looks to take the next step in his young career.