Teenager Alex Dunne says making his Formula 1 debut at the Austrian Grand Prix is “definitely the best day of my life”.
The 19-year-old impressed as he posted the fourth-fastest time in opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix as he stood in for McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The Irish driver was handed the opportunity in one of McLaren’s four mandatory sessions across the season where a rookie driver will take part in first practice.
Dunne is a McLaren development driver and leads the Formula 2 standings after six rounds with two victories in Bahrain and Imola.
“I want to say a massive thank you, you made a little boy’s dream come true,” Dunne said on his team radio after the session.
“This is definitely the best day of my life.
“Thank you everyone for letting me do this and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with his car. It means a lot.”
In taking part in first practice, Dunne became the first Irish driver to participate in a Formula 1 weekend in 22 years.
He started the session off slowly, carrying an aero rake on his car as championship leaders McLaren tested updates on the MCL39.
After a stint on hard tyres, the former British F4 champion posted the fourth-fastest time after switching to the soft tyres late in the hour-long session.
His quickest time was just 0.069 seconds shy of championship leader Oscar Piastri, who was third behind George Russell and Max Verstappen.
“I’m super, super happy. It’s safe to say it went pretty well,” Dunne told McLaren’s social media.
“We knew going into the session that the goal wasn’t necessarily for performance, it was more to help out with the car, help Lando and kind of just help the team improve as much as they can for FP2 and FP3, and onwards into the weekend.
“So to have the pace that I had and show what I am capable of on the F1 stage is something pretty special.”