Luke Browning

Luke Browning
Luke Browning
	Browning in 2022
Nationality	British
Born	31 January 2002 (age 22); Kingsley, Cheshire, United Kingdom
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Hitech Grand Prix
Starts	18 (18 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	15th in 2023
Previous series
2023; 2022; 2021–2022; 2021; 2021; 2021; 2019–2020; 2017–2018; 2016–2017	FR Middle East Championship; Formula 4 UAE Championship; GB3 Championship; Drexler Automotive Formula 4 Cup; ADAC Formula 4; Italian F4 Championship; F4 British Championship; Ginetta Junior Championship; Junior Saloon Car Championship
Championship titles
2023; 2022; 2020	FIA Formula 3 World Cup; GB3 Championship; F4 British Championship
Awards
2022	Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award

Luke Browning (born 31 January 2002) is a British racing driver who is scheduled to compete in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, driving for Hitech Pulse-Eight. He previously won the 2022 GB3 Championship and the 2020 F4 British Championship with Hitech and Fortec Motorsports respectively. He is a member of the Williams Driver Academy.^[1]

He was awarded the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award for 2022.^[2] He is the winner of the 2023 Macau Grand Prix.

Career

Junior Saloon Car Championship

In 2016 Browning made his debut in car racing, competing in the Junior Saloon Car Championship in the UK. He won a race and was awarded the title "Henry Surtees Teen Racer of the Year 2016", having finished ninth in his first year in motorsport competition.^[3]

Ginetta Junior Championship

2017

For 2017, the Brit made a switch to the Ginetta Junior Championship with Richardson Racing. Browning's season highlight would end up being a pole position he scored in the second Silverstone race, and he placed eleventh in the standings.^[4]

2018

In the following season Browning stayed on with Richardson Racing. His season started out strongly, with three victories after four races. However, over the course of the season Browning ultimately lost out to the Elite Motorsport duo of Louis Foster and eventual champion Adam Smalley. Browning scored enough points to win the championship taking Oulton park into account, only to lose his race 1 win due to a mechanical infringement. He went on to win race 2 in dramatic style by 11 seconds. Ultimately Browning finished in third position after a neck and neck season with a total of eight victories and ten further podium finishes.^[5]

Formula 4

2019

Browning progressed to the F4 British Championship in 2019, once again remaining with Richardson Racing.^[6] Browning won his first ever single-seater race at the opening race of the season, a very wet Brands Hatch.^[7] Having started the race from a lowly tenth place after engine issues in qualifying he made a similar drive through the field in the mixed condition race 2, only to collide with Zane Maloney on the last corner on the final lap. Browning took the chequered flag first, but was later docked to third after a ten-second time penalty.^[8]^[9] The Brit added to that tally with a victory at the Thruxton Circuit.^[10] That win would prove to be the last of the year, despite crossing the line first in Snetterton.^[11]^[12] However,a post-race penalty due to a jump start would drop him to third in the end.^[13] He concluded the season with a triple podium in Brands Hatch.^[14] Browning ended up sixth in the championship, with two wins, and nine podiums.^[15]

2020

In 2020, Browning moved to Fortec Motorsport for his title push season of British F4, partnering Rafael Villagómez and Roberto Faria for parts of the season.^[16] The season was memorable for the tight battle for the title between Browning and Carlin's Zak O'Sullivan.^[17] The pair exchanged victories at almost every weekend, with the round at Thruxton being the only exception. At the opening two rounds, Browning scored four second places, but it was at Oulton Park where he would complete a cleans sweep.^[18] He continued his form at Knockhill, taking two more wins and a podium.^[19] However, he would not win again until the penultimate round in Snetterton, by which O'Sullivan had closed down the points gap. Despite a win in the first race, O'Sullivan won the next two races which meant both came into the title deciding round even on points, in Brands Hatch.^[20] Browning took a wet double pole position, boosting his title chances and also winning the first race.^[21]^[22] Even with O'Sullivan winning the final race, the race was halted midway and half-points were awarded, meaning Browning would be crowned champion by a lead of only four points.^[23]^[24] He took seven wins, six poles and sixteen podiums.^[25]

2021

For 2021, Browning moved to mainland Europe to compete in the ADAC Formula 4 with US Racing.^[26] He started strong at the Red Bull Ring, taking a win during the third race.^[27] Browning scored a double podium in round 3 and 4, at both Hockenheimring and Sachsenring.^[28]^[29] At the second Hockenheimring round, he again claimed his second win in the final race, having held off Joshua Dufek in the dying last laps.^[30] He ended the season in Nürburgring with another double podium, putting him third overall in the championship, considerably behind Tim Tramnitz and champion Oliver Bearman.^[31]

Browning also took part in the first round of the Italian F4 Championship, scoring a second place in Circuit Paul Ricard.^[32] This result placed him 15th overall in the standings.^[33]

GB3 Championship

2021

On 9 September 2021 Browning announced that he would be making his debut in the GB3 Championship at Oulton Park.^[34] Driving for his title-winning outfit from the previous year, Browning experienced an eventful one off weekend in the 2021 season. He finished his first race in the category in second place, only behind the dominant Zak O'Sullivan, but was disqualified due to an illegal skid block.^[35] Browning overtook the latter around the outside of turn one and went on to win the second race.^[36] He was caught up in an unavoidable incident in the full reverse grid race 3 and retired shortly after.^[37] Browning was 25th in the standings.^[38]

2022

Browning would team up with Hitech Grand Prix to participate in the full 2022 season.^[39] Browning was sensational in the first round at Oulton Park, taking a double pole.^[40] He proceeded to then win twice, even winning the first race by a ten second margin.^[41]^[42] He continued his form with a double podium in the first Silverstone round, and a second place in Donington Park.^[43] He would win again the next round at Snetterton, winning Race 2 from pole whilst beating his title rival Joel Granfors in a tight battle saw Browning retake the standings lead again.^[44]^[45] In Spa-Francorchamps, he again took a double win which solidified his lead further.^[46] However, the pair of victories would be his last of his campaign, and he went podium-less for the first time during the second Silverstone round due to being disqualified in qualifying.^[47] This meant he lost the championship lead to Granfors.^[48] A double podium in Brands Hatch brought the championship lead back to Browning, as 15.5 points split the pair heading into the finale at Donington.^[49]^[50] Having scored yet another double podium, Browning clinched the title with a race to spare.^[51] Having taken five wins and a further eight podiums, the Briton stated that "he couldn't be happier" as he wrapped up his second single-seater title.^[52]

Formula Regional

During the 2023 pre-season, Browning joined Hitech Grand Prix for the second and third rounds of the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship.^[53] He scored points in his first two races and placed 26th in the standings with eight points.^[54]

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2023

Browning partook in the 2023 Formula 3 pre-season testing with Hitech Pulse-Eight.^[55] On 1st March 2023, just two days before the season started, Hitech announced the signing of Browning, ultimately completing its F3 roster for the upcoming season.^[56] He qualified 17th on debut in Bahrain, but the sprint race ended in disappointment, getting tagged by Hugh Barter. However, he stunned with an epic recovery drive during the feature race, passing car after car for fifth place.^[57] He cracked into the top 12 in Melbourne qualifying, putting him fourth for the sprint.^[58] Despite scooting to second early on, it included contact Oliver Goethe which took him out of the race. Browning would briefly go airborne in a battle with teammate Sebastián Montoya. The Briton suffered damage to his car, eventually finishing 11th before a penalty for contact with Goethe dropped him to 17th.^[59] He had another penalty-stricken race in the feature, this time for colliding with Franco Colapinto which dropped him from sixth to eighth.^[60]^[61]

Browning qualified a season-best fourth in Monaco. He had his most successful weekend, finishing eighth in the sprint and narrowly missing the podium to Paul Aron in the feature race.^[62] In Barcelona, Browning had a tussle for the lead with his former British F4 rival and Williams Driver Academy member Zak O'Sullivan during the sprint race, but ultimately settled for second place as he took his first F3 podium.^[63] However, his feature race quickly ended on the first lap after contact with Leonardo Fornaroli.^[64] Shockingly, Browning would have a poor second half of the season, due to unfortunate collisions especially in Austria and Silverstone.^[65]^[66] In Spa-Francorchamps, Browning returned to the points for the final time during the sprint race, finishing eighth.^[67] A masterclass drive followed in the Monza sprint race. After being disqualified from qualifying,^[68] he rose from 27th to take an incredible fifth place, went unrewarded as he was disqualified yet again for an illegal car floor.^[69] He finished 15th in the standings, with 41 points.^[70]

Browning remained with Hitech for the post-season testing sessions,^[71] setting the fastest lap on the first day in Barcelona.^[72]^[73] He then took part in the Macau Grand Prix with Hitech.^[74] He took pole for the qualification race, despite having no prior experience to the circuit.^[75]^[76] He then proceeded to win the qualification race, fending off teammate Minì.^[77] From there in the main race, despite a challenge from Dennis Hauger, Browning persevered to take the Macau Grand Prix victory despite multiple restarts.^[78] Following the race, he revealed he watched "every start of Macau" in order to defend his lead.^[79]

2024

Browning continued his relationship with Hitech Pulse-Eight for the 2024 Formula 3 season.^[80]

Formula E

In 2023, Browning took part in the rookie drivers' test in Berlin with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team.^[81]^[82]

Formula One

At the end of April 2023, Browning was announced as a member of the Williams Driver Academy.^[83] During late October, Browning got his first taste of F1 machinery, driving the Aston Martin AMR21 at the Silverstone Circuit as part of his reward for claiming the Autosport BRDC Award the previous year.^[84]