It has been a tough weekend so far for Alex Dunne at the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Irishman's F3 sprint race lasted only a few corners before he was taken out by a six-car pile-up.
The 18-year-old has impressed on his rise through the junior ranks, winning the 2022 British F4 championship while also securing runner-up spots in the Italian F4 and GB3 championships in recent years.
He earned a drive with MP Motorsport for this season of Formula 3 and his performances have impressed despite some bad luck in the opening rounds.
His luck has sadly not turned thus far in Monte-Carlo, with the Offaly native involved in a bizarre accident this morning which saw his car become wedged with that of rival Christian Mansell.
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Alex Dunne unfortunate to be caught out in Monaco GP pile-up
The beginning of the F3 weekend at Monaco saw Alex Dunne caught out by rotten luck with red flags in both practice and qualifying.
Despite showing strong pace, the Irishman found himself in 26th place in qualifying, meaning he would be starting near the back for both Saturday's sprint race and Sunday's feature race.
Dunne made a decent start off the line on Saturday morning but, as the cars approached the Casino section, disaster struck.
As Arvid Lindblad attempted to take the racing line into Casino Square, he swiped across Christian Mansell, with Lindblad being spun 180 degrees. Alex Dunne behind Mansell was unsighted and slammed into the back of the British driver.
Three further cars were involved in the collision, with Dunne among those forced to retire from the race.
The sprint race was red-flagged as a result of the pile-up. In an utterly bizarre scene, Alex Dunne's car had become wedged with that of Christian Mansell ahead, with the cranes forced to lift the pair's cars away as one.
A first-lap pile-up caused an early red flag in the Sprint 🚩
But Christian Mansell and Alex Dunne's cars weren't ready to leave 🥹#F3 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/KF4Qobqpbb— Formula 3 (@Formula3) May 25, 2024
Photos from the paddock later showed that the nose of Alex Dunne's car had become wedged in the rear of Mansell's car.
If you've seen the video of two F3 cars locked together while they were craned away at Casino, here's why they were stuck...: pic.twitter.com/Ls70oTCLiz
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) May 25, 2024
It was a strange image, and it summed up what has been an unfortunate start to the season for Alex Dunne.
The race was eventually won by Nicola Tsolov, who was previously involved in a controversial incident when he seemingly side-swiped Dunne intentionally at March's Australian Grand Prix.
Despite his bad luck, Dunne remains highly-rated, and recently earned a spot on McLaren's esteemed Driver Development Programme - a huge vote of confidence for the bright prospect as he remains set on earning a spot in F1 down the line.
Alex Dunne will hope for better fortune in Sunday's feature race. Lights out is at 7am Irish time. Meanwhile, the Formula 1 Grand Prix gets underway at 2pm.
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