Dunne to drive for McLaren in Monza F1 practice

Alex Dunne impressed as he made his Formula 1 practice debut in Austria in June

Ireland's Alex Dunne will get his second opportunity to drive for McLaren on a Formula 1 weekend in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Formula 2 title contender will drive the championship-leading MCL39 on Friday at Monza.

The 19-year-old impressed as he finished in fourth place on his first F1 practice outing at the Austrian Grand Prix in June.

By competing at the Red Bull Ring, Dunne became the first driver from Ireland to participate at a Formula 1 weekend in 22 years.

The McLaren development driver will dovetail his McLaren commitments with the 11th round of the F2 championship in Italy.

He is fifth in the standings with two victories, in Bahrain and Imola, and is 30 points behind leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

Dunne said he was "really excited" to be back driving the MCL39 at Monza.

"My first one in Austria was an extremely special day for me so to do it again at Monza, a track which is so historic, is going to be put a big smile on my face.

"Hopefully I can build and improve upon what was a strong outing in Austria and help Lando and Oscar as much as possible going into the Grand Prix."

Dunne impressed in his first outing for McLaren when he set a time just 0.069 seconds off Formula 1 title contender Piastri at the Red Bull Ring.

He described that has "the best day of his life", and he will now get a second opportunity as McLaren take the second of four mandatory practice sessions for rookie drivers.

By driving in Italy, Dunne will have had two outings, while IndyCar star Pato O'Ward will drive at his home race in Mexico.

The location and driver at McLaren's fourth rookie session of the year has yet to be confirmed, but with a number of street circuits and sprint weekends to close out the season, the final round of the season at Abu Dhabi appears to be a strong possibility.

With two victories, Dunne has shown impressive form for Rodin Motorsport in Formula 2 since his Austrian Grand Prix appearance but has dropped to fifth in the standings.

He finished second on the road in the feature race in Austria but was disqualified for excessive plank wear on his car, and he lost victory after dominating in the wet in Belgium because of a penalty for a start procedure infringement.

While both penalties were out of his control, it dropped the Irishman from first to fifth in the standings with four rounds left.