One box every successful racing driver ticks is the undying will to be number one. It is a fascinating characteristic that all the greats possess and is rarely seen to such extremity in other sports.
So when this writer congratulated Alex Dunne on being the record-breaking champion in British Formula Four and second in the Italian F4 championship, one wondered if someone so young carried that sense of ruthlessness.
“The season has been good . . . but I would have liked to go one better in Italian F4,” was the 17-year-old’s instant reaction.
Box ticked.
The last two years have been a worldwide journey of experience on many racetracks around Europe and the Middle East, culminating in last year’s record-breaking haul of 11 wins, six further podium finishes, and five pole positions in British F4 and a graduation to GP3 level.
His progression included stints in German F4, where graduates include Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu. And in each stage of his learning curve, Dunne has taken challenges in his stride.
“In 2021, when I moved from racing in Spain to racing in German F4, I found the German championship harder. The level was that bit higher. And in the Spanish championship you get 12 sets of tyres for the weekend – two sets for qualifying and one for the race [there are three races a weekend]. But in Germany you only get six, so it adds another factor in tyre-saving and it changes your approach.
“But you have to remember that everybody is on the same playing field. I have always been quite a smooth driver so tyre management was not really an issue. And I quite enjoyed having another thing to think about as it made it a little bit trickier. I would not want it any other way. I actually enjoyed it more to be honest.”
Dunne has spent the last two seasons working with the US Racing team in Germany and Italy, co-founded by six-time grand prix winner Ralf Schumacher. And his time across the different countries’ systems – including his successful one with Hitech GP in the UK – have served the Meath native well.
Alex Dunne's Hitech GP F4 car crosses the line as he wins a race in Snetterton Circuit last August.
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“To be honest I have not spoken to Ralf that often as he is often away with his son who is in F3. I’ve met him a couple of times at the workshop, and he has given me a few helpful tips.
“Italy was definitely a bit more of a struggle as at the start of the year we were a little bit behind on the performance side. In the end it came pretty good, but we had a slow start.
“There are differences between British and Italian F4. In Spa, [which is on the Italian F4 calendar] for example, you can push a lot more because you have so much runoff, compared to a track like Brands Indy or Oulton Park where if you make one mistake you are in the wall.
“So you have to hold back a little bit more in the UK, where there is more freedom in Italy.
“But learning from the two has its advantages. If there was ever a track in Italy that was a bit more tight and twisty then I felt more comfortable because I had experience in that from the UK.
“The UK has some of the hardest tracks you will go to, they are quite tight.
“And overall with the championship – people say the competition was higher in Italy, but the way I see it is that because there are so many more cars on the grid there are, say, 10 or 15 cars on the grid that can win. In Britain, there could be maybe five drivers that could win.
“Switching from the UK to Italy was not too difficult for me. The cars are similar bar minor set-up differences. The only real thing you have to adapt to is the different environments in the teams, but I have spent so much time with both that having to adapt to both championships was pretty easy.”
As for where the teenage sensation gets his all-or-nothing mindset, he credits his life-long tutor – father and former Irish champion car racer Noel.
“My dad is my biggest inspiration. He is the only person who has been with me from the start and he has always been my main mentor.
“Having that mindset to always want to win is quite a natural thing. I get it from my dad as well as when he was racing he was the same. If I ever come in from a race where I started 10th and finished second my dad would always say to me, ‘if you didn’t do this you probably could have won’.
“And I am in an environment where everybody is pushing me. Everybody around me always wants to win and I want to win as well. That is how most good racing drivers are.
“Since I was quite young I was always like that. Whether it was racing against my friends on a bike or running around, everything I did I wanted to be first no matter what it was.
“Even in the off-season I try to be competitive. I do some e-sports racing and sim racing. It is very different to being in a car, so I kind of just use it to pass the time and stay competing at a high level when there are no car races on.”
Dunne’s graduation into GP3 is a step up in terms of the power he will have to get to grips with. His F4 cars carried about 210 brake horsepower, but this year that rises to 250bhp. And he is determined to get as much practice in the new machinery as he can.
“We are just focusing on stepping up to GP3. I am really looking forward to it, I have done a couple of days in the car, including in Silverstone, and the downforce difference compared to F4 is incredible.
“And I plan to branch out into F3 Asia. I have raced in the UAE before and really enjoyed it, and this year we will go to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait and I have no issues travelling out to it.”
So after championship success in F4, what does a good 2023 look like?
“Winning the championship. But you can never really start a season thinking like that, just take it race-by-race and if you are qualifying on pole and doing well in races the championship will come naturally.
“The goal is just to do as well as I possibly can and hopefully the championship will come.”