Alex Dunne Secures Second Place at F2 British Grand Prix with Winner's Victory Under Review

Second placed Alex Dunne of Ireland and Rodin Motorsport (17) on the podium with his trophy after the Round 8 Silverstone Feature race of the Formula 2 Championship. (Photo by Malcolm Griffiths - Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

Alex Dunne returned to the podium today and put a difficult Saturday behind him with a second-place finish in the Formula Two British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

And things could yet improve for the Offaly racer after Jak Crawford took a crucial though potentially controversial feature race win, closing the gap to championship leader Richard Verschoor to just six points.

The American led for much of the race but came under increasing pressure from Dunne, who had qualified on the front row and steadily reeled in the leader. The 19-year-old was within half a second of Crawford by lap 21 of 29, having narrowed an earlier 1.5 second gap.

Dunne briefly assumed the lead on lap 24 when Crawford pitted during a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) period.

Although Crawford moved towards the pit lane under yellow flags, it appeared that he had yet to cross the line into the pit lane before the status changed to the VSC. Officials have yet to confirm whether he complied with regulations as making a mandatory pit stop is forbidden under a VSC. A penalty would hand the race win to the Irish driver.

That VSC was upgraded to a full Safety Car the following lap, adding further complexity to the strategy calls.

Dunne made his own mandatory pit stop shortly after, rejoining just ahead of Luke Browning to retain second place, but behind Crawford, who ultimately took the chequered flag.

The Irishman bounced back from a scoreless sprint race yesterday, where a clash with Gabriele Mini had led to a puncture, to finish second in the feature and collect 18 valuable points. The McLaren junior drove a composed race and continues to build momentum heading into the second half of the season.

Dunne climbs back to third in the overall standings and is now within 14 points of the championship lead.

Luke Browning completed the podium after a strong drive, while Arvid Lindblad picked up eighth and claimed an extra point for setting the fastest lap.

With just two rounds remaining, the title race has tightened considerably but depending on the outcome of the stewards’ investigation, Silverstone’s results could yet shift.

According to the source: The Irish Independent.