Monza F1 outing a chance to show what I can do - Dunne

Ireland's Alex Dunne will drive for McLaren in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix

As Alex Dunne drove out of the garage and into the pitlane on a Formula 1 weekend for the first time, Lewis Hamilton was just ahead of him in a Ferrari.

The 19-year-old Irishman doesn't idolise any of the current grid - he is their peer, after all - but admitted it was a "pretty cool" moment to be following the seven-time champion onto the circuit.

It was something he had dreamt about for a long time, and he caught the attention of the F1 paddock at June's Austrian Grand Prix by posting the fourth-fastest time in the practice opening session - just 0.069 seconds off McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.

It led him to say it was "the best day of my life". Who could blame him?

"It was a very special day for me. Even driving out of the pitlane and seeing the Irish flags waving," Dunne told BBC Sport NI.

"Regardless of the end result, being on track and taking part in a F1 session with the best drivers in the world was super cool.

"It went pretty well too, which was special."

Now he will get to do it again at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza - one of the most historic circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.

It is another opportunity to show the F1 paddock what he is capable of when he steps in for Piastri in opening practice.

"I set the bar pretty high for the first one in Austria so if I don't do better than I did there I'll be a little bit disappointed," McLaren development driver Dunne added.

"I feel very comfortable in the F1 car and in the sim (simulator) it's always been strong. Every time I'm driving I'm getting better and better, which is always a nice place to be in.

"I'll have the attitude that a FP1 session is an opportunity to show what you can do, but it's not the session to try and be a hero.

"There's no point doing something extra special and making yourself look worse because you've made a mistake.

"It's important to do all the things you understand and learnt correctly, and the rest of it will put itself together."

F2 still the focus

Despite his Formula 1 outings, and the added attention that has come his way since Austria, Dunne knows his main focus lies in Formula 2.

The Rodin Motorsport driver is in contention for the title and is 30 points behind leader Leonardo Fornaroli with four rounds remaining - starting at Monza where he will dovetail his McLaren outing with his F2 commitments.

"I've always said my main focus is F2 and to do a good job," added Dunne.

"With how things are at the moment, the best opportunity I can give myself of being in F1 is by winning F2.

"At the same time, every time I jump into a F1 car it's almost like an audition and it's important to do well in that to show I am capable of being in F1, but also show I am capable of focusing on the right things in F2 as well."

A margin larger than the 25 points on offer for a feature race win may seem like a big difference to make up, but Dunne would have been leading the championship if it wasn't for two big penalties outside of his control.

In Austria, he was disqualified from second place for excessive plank wear on his Rodin car, and his lost a dominant win in the wet in Belgium for a start procedure infringement that had no actual bearing on the race.

Dunne has won the Formula 2 feature races in Bahrain and Imola, and finished on the podium at Jeddah, Barcelona, Silverstone and Hungary

If both results had stood then Dunne would vault from fifth to first in the standings, but he says "there's no point getting too upset" over things that happened in the past that he can't change.

"As long as we make sure every weekend now is perfect from start to finish then I don't see why we can't gain those points back," said Dunne, who has won the feature races in Bahrain and Imola.

"I don't think it's a bad place to be because the things that have stopped us getting those points aren't related to pace and performance, and they are the things that are easiest to fix."

With eight races across four rounds remaining, Dunne believes he can still make up the deficit to Fornaroli, who won the Formula 3 title last year.

"It's realistic, yes, but also difficult. Fornaroli is leading at the moment and he knows how to win a championship.

"To catch him I'm going to have to perform very well over the last four rounds. I think it is possible. When everything is correct I think myself and the team are the fastest.

"We need to make sure that everything we have learnt up until now, and the stuff we know we've done well, we need to maximise that every weekend."

Swarmed by Irish support

By becoming the first driver from Ireland to participate on a Formula 1 weekend in 22 years, Dunne has established himself as one of the rising stars of Irish sport, and with that has come a growing fan base.

He said he first noticed it after his feature race win in Bahrain, when an Irish flag with 'Alex' was displayed across from the podium in the grandstand, and it has only been enhanced since Austria.

If he wasn't aware of the support back home, he did after visiting the Mondello Historic Festival in August.

Compared to a year ago at the annual event at Ireland's premier circuit when he was racing in Formula 3, when he would walk about the paddock "almost like a normal person", Dunne was the star attraction this time around and swarmed by attention.

"That weekend was pretty crazy," said Dunne with a grin.

"In comparison to last year, a couple of people who knew me might have asked for a picture but I was able to walk around the paddock like I was part of the group.

"This year, as soon as the big interview on stage finished I just got surrounded by everyone, but it's cool to see.

"Seeing little kids there makes it nice. When you see you are inspiring that younger generation to try and do the same thing that you've done, for me that's the nicest thing."