Latest Episode | Cut To The Race Podcast
Luke Browning currently races for Hitech Pulse-Eight in the F3 Championship and is third in the standings, after suffering an unfortunate weekend at Silverstone. FormulaNerds spoke to the Williams junior over the British Grand Prix weekend.
After finishing 15th in the Formula 3 Championship in 2023, Luke Browning went on to win the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. He is now competing in F3 for his second season, which demonstrates his improvements from last year.
So far this season, after seven rounds, Browning has achieved 112 points. The British driver has stood on the top step of the podium twice in both the Bahrain Feature Race and the Austrian Feature Race. He has also achieved a P3 finish in Monaco.
Browning was the first championship leader of the season after the opening round. He swapped positions with Leonardo Fornaroli a couple of times, but he retook the lead going into his home race at Silverstone.
Unfortunately for Browning, whilst he took pole position, a collision on the Saturday in the Sprint and the rain on the Sunday resulted in him scoring only six points over the entire weekend.
However, FormulaNerds spoke to Browning over the weekend about the Silverstone weekend, the F3 Championship and also being a Williams junior driver.
A tale of two halves at Silverstone
The British Grand Prix weekend was a home race for several drivers across Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3. Arvid Lindblad did the double that weekend in front of his home crowd, but it was Browning who started the weekend on top.
With a wet practice session, Browning didn’t hit the track until Qualifying. All the other 29 drivers went out during practice and Browning’s Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates, Cian Shields and James Wharton, finished in P2 and P4.
But Qualifying was when Browning outshone everybody. The British driver completed 11 laps during Qualifying and despite not having any previous track time that weekend, Browning secured pole position. He achieved two points after setting a 1:44.992, which was 0.045 seconds ahead of Max Esterson in second.
Browning spoke to FormulaNerds and admitted that his experience around Silverstone contributed to the decision not to go out during practice. Elaborating on his decision, Browning said:
“We were confident. We knew saving the two sets of wets, maybe, for both races could be important and ultimately, I’ve done enough laps around here that I don’t think any practice would have been very helpful for us.
“I think it was very smart from the team’s side and now we’re ready for every situation.”
Luke Browning shows us how it's done around Silverstone ?#F3 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/QddD46ELC8
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) July 5, 2024
Once he had secured pole position, Browning outlined his aims for the Feature Race. He said he would “try [his] best”, but that he wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. Browning clarified this by saying:
“I’m in a great place in the championship with my rivals quite a way behind. I’ll consolidate, try to pick up as many points as I can and just maximise the pace that we have.”
However, the Feature Race saw Browning miss out on the win and finish P8. Speaking to F3 Media after the race, Browning said it was a “tough weekend”. But despite falling back in the championship, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver remained confident that if the team continue as they are, “in really good form”, they “should be okay” for the remaining three rounds.
A ‘championship mindset’
Over the Silverstone weekend, FormulaNerds also spoke to Browning about his second season in F3 as well as the championship. Currently, he is only seven points behind Gabriele Mini, who took the lead after Round 7.
When asked if he’s thinking about the championship or just focusing on the individual races, Browning confirmed that you have to have a “championship mindset”. He said:
“Oh yeah, of course, you’ve got to drive in a championship mindset the whole time.
“You’ve got to think maybe some moves aren’t worth taking and some are. I think the best racing drivers are often calculated and smart, so that’s what I try to be.”
Browning continued, touching on the differences between his rookie season and this year, explaining that he now feels ready to compete. He told FormulaNerds: “Obviously, back-to-back pole positions now, so [this season’s] going well.
“I think last year I came in, I was the last to sign. On the week of the race, I didn’t expect to be in it.
“I wasn’t ready, to be truthful, but now I’m ready. I’ve had the preparation, the full support of Williams and the full support of Hitech, it’s been great. I’m making the most of the opportunities.
“The car’s been great and I’m just trying to be consistent.”
So far this year, Browning has had some mixed results in the Sprint Races, but on the Sunday, he seems to always perform, having scored points in every Feature Race, so the consistency is there. And being a part of an F1 team’s driver academy has lent a hand in Browning’s performance.
Browning on Williams and James Vowles
Ahead of the Silverstone Sprint, Browning spoke to FormulaNerds about being a part of the Williams Driver Academy. He became a member last year and that partnership has continued into 2024.
Speaking about Williams, Browning admitted it’s an “incredible experience”, not only to learn from members of the team, but to understand the world of F1 a bit more. He told FormulaNerds:
“I get to delve into the experience of James Vowles and the experience of the engineers on the team, whether it be on the simulator, or I can ask questions left, right and centre and that’s massively valuable.
“It’s an incredible experience to be a part of the programme. Not only that but to have a glimpse of how F1 works. It’s amazing for me, having this be my only second year in the F1 paddock, but have an understanding of what’s going on.”
The next race for F3 is this coming weekend at the Hungaroring. Last year, Browning qualified outside the top 10 and wasn’t able to score points in either race. However, with his confidence this season and the competitiveness of the championship, we could see the gap between the top three in the standings grow even smaller.
Headline Image: X @Formula3