Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning impressed many during his breakout Qualifying session. After competing in a Formula 1 Free Practice with Williams earlier in the day, the 22-year-old delivered a stunning P3 qualifying result, the best of his Formula 2 career thus far.
Post-qualifying, Browning spoke to the media, including Pit Debrief, about his preparation, the challenges of adapting between cars, and his goals for the season.
Positive steps after a tricky in-season test
Browning, who was upbeat after Qualifying, reflected on the major turnaround from his Hitech team. Following the in-season test in Sakhir, the team struggled to find a competitive set-up, which made for a tricky three days of testing. Therefore, the third-place qualifying performance was pleasantly surprising for the British Driver.
“Yeah enjoyed that a lot it has to be said and after testing to make this jump just incredibly happy with the Hitech team I have around me, they’ve been fantastic and very grateful to them.”
The Williams-backed Driver had a complicated Friday. Partaking in practice for F2 and then jumping straight into the Williams car for the FP1 session. Browning then once again had to shift his mindset back to F2, for the qualifying session. The junior driver highlighted how easily mistakes could happen in such a situation, especially with the windy track conditions causing lap times to be 1.5 seconds off the usual pace.
“The adaptation was tough. Hopping out of a Formula 1 car straight into Formula 2 is not easy. Today’s track conditions are a second and a half slower than expected so I think it was very easy to make a mistake.”
However, by staying calm and executing a clean lap, Browning outperformed many of the experienced Formula 2 drivers surrounding him.
“I think my main goal is just to hit every apex, and we did that, so I’m very happy with my lap today. I think why I was so excited over the radio is I didn’t exactly expect to be here from testing, so yeah, happy.”
Browning managing expectations
Despite the excitement around his qualifying session, Browning remained aware of the challenges he faced throughout the session. Particularly with tyre degradation over a single lap, something that many drivers, even the experienced ones, struggled with throughout the session.
“Experience in Formula 2 is massive. It’s my first time here in Bahrain in a Formula 2 car. Looking back at the lap, there are things I’d already approach differently. I think I pushed a little bit too hard to start with at a purple sector one and then had some degradation throughout the lap”
However, the Hitech driver still remained ecstatic with his third place in Sunday’s feature race, as it was unexpected by himself and the team.
“Honestly, if you told me P3 at the start of the day, I’d have snapped your hand off. We’re in a good place and our race pace look good in the test so let’s see.“
The challenges of Formula 2 and Formula 3
Having a few races of experience under his belt, Browning touched on the changes he has made to his own driving style to sort out the problems he endured last season.
“…Naturally, Formula 2 is difficult, not only from an engineering team’s perspective but also from a driving perspective, the pressure is on. Perception changes like that, and I think that’s the key. Not making a mistake when it matters, and I think that’s what qualifying was all about today, and that.”
The Brit also emphasised the adjustments he’s had to make stepping up to Formula 2 over the last year. Claiming the cars are vastly different.
“They’re two opposite ends of the spectrum, to be perfectly honest. My driving style for my F3 car is very different to Formula 2.”
“What a lot of people don’t realise in looking at the junior sort of categories is that one Formula 3 car can be very different from other Formula 3 cars, depending on how you set it up. So, depending on how you work with the team, optimise it, get the most out of it.”
These challenges have made the youngster develop a greater respect for his Hitech team as they have quickly adapted to the competitive nature of Formula 2.
“…That’s what I’m so proud about with Hitech is where we’ve come from from the test with my limited experience, and we were not in a place to come and qualify in the top three here after the FP1 performance, the adaptation just elated, very happy.”
Browning’s end goal for 2025
Luke Browning remains adamant that this qualifying performance is just the beginning stages of a much larger goal. To become Formula 2 World Champion in 2025.
“The main thing is just to focus on learning. Doing this in the first season is not easy so approaching circuits you’ve not approached before in a Formula 2 car is not going to be easy. We’ve got Jeddah coming up next so it’s going to be all about the adaptation, and I think, yeah, what Leo’s [Fornaroli] done really well.”
Browning is aiming to emulate the 2024 performances of now Formula 1 Driver Gabriel Bortoleto.
“…Bortoleto had a fantastic performance, and he really started to pick up towards the end of the year. That’s exactly my goal. Try and be consistent, try not to make the rookie mistakes, and just be conservative, but also attack when you know you have the car and the confidence underneath you to not make the mistake, go for it. I’m feeling the confidence now.”
