"Rest in peace for his career": Fans react to reports of Red Bull targeting McLaren's prodigy

F1 fans were left concerned after it was reported that Red Bull were targeting McLaren Academy driver Alex Dunne as a potential candidate for a drive at the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls seat in the upcoming 2026 season. The Irish driver joined the McLaren Junior Programme at the start of the 2024 season and has been impressive in the FP1 sessions when given a chance by the world champions inside an F1 car.

The 19-year-old currently sits P5 in the F2 championship and trails leader Leonardo Fornarioli by 58 points with two rounds remaining in the 2025 season. Although Dunne has been associated with the Woking-based outfit, it has been reported that he and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko have held initial talks for a potential seat at VCARB next year.

With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri having long contracts with McLaren, it would be difficult for Alex Dunne to get a drive with the British team in the future. The Austrian brand, on the other hand, has potentially two seats up for play at the Faenza-based outfit, with both Tsunoda and Lawson missing out.

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to the reports of Alex Dunne being a target for Red Bull next year on X, with one fan saying:

"Rest in peace for his career,"

"Personally don't really see how both Lindblad and Dunne are ready for Formula One. Both been all over the show in Formula Two."

"Maybe Helmut took Victor Martins' quote ("Who does he think he is, Max Verstappen?") seriously."

Here are some more reactions:

"Don't they already have enough of their own young drivers without trying to take drivers from other teams' rookie programs,"

"Over rated,"

"Dunne has great potential, but he's not ready,"

Apart from Alex Dunne, his F2 rival Arvid Lindblad had also been rumored to be getting a seat with VCARB in the 2026 season.

Red Bull junior driver reacts to rumors of him joining F1 next year

Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad stated that he believed that the rumors of getting a drive for next year were "cool," but he was focused on his F2 campaign.

Speaking with GPBlog, the 18-year-old gave his take and said:

“It's a funny story. When I was five, when I started this journey, I had the dream of becoming a Formula One World Champion. I had that same sort of determination and drive. It was four years ago when I said that to Lando, and I had the same today.

"We'll see what happens. Obviously, it's quite cool that there are rumours being attached to me for next year in F1. But I still don't know about my future. I'm still very focused on F2. So yeah, we'll see what happens."

Red Bull have potentially multiple drivers in contention for their three vacant seats in two teams heading into the 2026 season.

About the author

Devang is a Formula 1 and NASCAR journalist at Sportskeeda with 3500+ articles and over 5 million reads under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has a total experience of 3.5 years.

To keep up with the sport’s developments, Devang watches every single session and comes up with unique angles for the stories, from the readers’ perspective, using his expertise in the field. He strives to report accurate, ethical and relevant data by reading information from verified sources in the field, ones that are also trusted by industry experts.

Currently, his favorite drivers on the grid are Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo; he is particularly impressed by how the two drivers rarely lose their cool and approach everything with a smile on their faces. He classifies himself as a ‘Tifosi’ and is a Charles Leclerc fan.

Devang is a sports buff and when he is away from his keyboard, he watches other sports like cricket, tennis, badminton, and football, to name a few.

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Edited by Devang Chauhan