Alex Dunne lines up in Pole for Sunday’s F2 Feature Race after a stellar Spa Qualifying. Ritomo Miyata lines up alongside him after his best F2 Qualifying result, with Roman Stanek completing the top three at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix.
Dunne Dominates
“It was pretty good,” said Dunne.
“I think for me, the most satisfying thing is the fact that […] I was four times clear in FP […] and in both sessions I was purple in all three sectors.”
Despite setting the pace in both Free Practice and Qualifying at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Dunne still claims his “pole lap was a bit messy” despite being in a “good place” with the “general speed and margins” compared to the rest of the field.
Dunne is currently third in the overall Championship Standings, behind Richard Verschoor and Jak Crawford respectively.
Opportunities Ahead
However, with the MP Motorsport and DAMS Lucas Oil drivers both qualifying outside of the top ten in Spa’s Qualifying session, it gives the Rodin Motorsport driver the perfect opportunity to maximise.
“I think a big thing about F2 is maximising your weekends when the other people […] maybe they don’t quite have the pace and I think that’s what we did today,” recalled Dunne.
“People around us in the championship […] I don’t even think any of them are in the top ten and I’m on pole, so I’m exactly where I need to be.”
A Strong History at Spa
Taking his first single seater pole at the track in Spanish F4 in 2024, there is a long-standing relationship between Dunne and the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
“If I told 15-year-old me at that point that I was going to be on pole in F2 here a couple of years later, I don’t think he would have believed you,” Dunne reminisced.
“It’s been a cool journey. I think I’m very, very lucky to be where I am, you know, with McLaren, with Rodin.”
Recently, Dunne has been in demand, with the Irish driver taking part in his first F1 FP1 session for McLaren at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix.
Driving Lando Norris’ MCL39, he set the fourth-fastest lap, 0.224s off the leading time.
Receiving further support from the team in Formula E machinery, Dunne also took part in the Berlin Rookie Test at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit earlier this month.
“It’s always tricky to progress through the ranks. This year, it’s kind of picked a little bit more than it has with others, not necessarily as a driver, but I think the whole environment and the support I have around me has been a key part to the success this year,” said Dunne.
“I think it’s been going well, I really enjoy this track. I said at the beginning of the weekend that this is a track I’ve always gone well at in the past.”
Miyata – Best of the Rest
With his best Qualifying result in his Formula 2 career, Miyata will line-up in second on Sunday’s grid.
“We had a really good show,” said Miyata.
“In Silverstone, we couldn’t push because we had an issue […] but this weekend, since Free Practice, we had confidence and […] finally finished P2.”
With wet conditions expected for Sunday’s Feature Race, it will be tricker to maximise, even from second position.
“From my side […] we want to get a podium,” confirmed Miyata
“Of course, if we can win the race […] but if it rains, maybe it will be a tough race, so we need to always try to do our best.”
Stanek Rounds Out Top Three
Stanek will be lining up in third, with the Invicta Racing driver achieving a top six Qualifying result in the last four races.
“After practice, we struggled a little bit, we didn’t really have the pace to fight for the top three,” said Stanek
“We made some improvements; I tried also my best to improve the driving. With the tow, it was messy, but in the end, we put everything together and I think we can be happy with P3 today.”
Despite showing consistency in Qualifying, Stanek has struggled to convert this into meaningful results in both the Sprint and Feature Races.
“We have to keep the momentum and now, it’s time to improve also in the races. In Silverstone, we did the wrong strategy, and I boxed for Soft tyres, which was not the way to go,” confirmed Stanek.
“There was a little bit of misunderstanding, so we lost a lot of points there, but I’m happy that I have a good chance again to score good points.”
Featured Image Credit: McLaren Racing
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