Alex Dunne has announced that he will be driving in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for the 2024 season.
The move means that the 18-year-old, who is one of Ireland's brightest prospects in the single-seater ranks in recent years, will embark on the championship which is two tiers below Formula One.
He will race for MP Motorsport, taking the Dutch team's third seat for the season which will get underway in Bahrain at the start of March.
"I'm thrilled to start my first full season of FIA F3 with MP Motorsport," Dunne said as he confirmed the move.
3/3 ✔️
— MP Motorsport (@OfficialMPteam) February 5, 2024
Alex Dunne completes our 2024 FIA Formula 3 lineup! Looking forward to a strong season together 💪#F3 pic.twitter.com/buwCA9KmMv
"They are proven winners in every category that they compete in, and I’m sure that they will use their experience to help me build on my initial experiences with the F3 car in the post-season FIA F3 test at Imola and then at Macau. I will be up against the best drivers at this level of single-seater racing, but that’s what I’m here for. I relish the challenge ahead and can’t wait to get started."
Last November, the Offaly native competed in an F3 race for the first time when he took part in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix, where he drew attention by climbing from sixth to a second-place finish in the 10-lap qualification race, although he would later crash out of the subsequent main race.
Shortly before that performance, he also topped the timesheets at an F3 test in Imola.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport in December, Dunne said he had his sights firmly fixed on trying to achieve the goal of getting into Formula One.
"Pretty much from the beginning of my karting career to now, the goal has always been Formula One," he said.
"When I got a good idea of the path and when I got a little bit more into racing and more into F1 as well, I realised this is where I want to end up.
"So the goal since I've started has been Formula One and to be a Formula One world champion and my goal is still the same."
Dunne won the British F4 championship in 2022, before going on to be named Irish International Driver of the Year at the Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards that year.
Last year, he finished second in the GB3 Championship.
