Luke Browning Season Review: 2024 title was just not meant to be

Luke Browning called his two seasons in Formula 3 a “dream” but admits he was disappointed to miss out on the 2024 Drivers’ Championship with Hitech Pulse-Eight.
The British driver had a tremendous year, achieving three podiums, which include two victories, as well as two Pole Positions on his way to finishing third in the Drivers’ Standings on 128 points.
Recently, Browning sat down to reflect on his 2024 campaign, and he admits that there are some mixed feelings given that he missed out on the title.
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“I mean as a whole it was pretty amazing,” said Browning looking back on the season. “We started off the year with a first race win in Bahrain, went on to a podium in Monaco, and two consecutive pole positions in the busiest part of the season.
“Also leading my home race at Silverstone was great, but this year wasn’t meant to be. We had a lot of bad luck go our way and it just didn’t come together.
“Unfortunately, in a championship fight when you have stuff like what happened at Silverstone, those things will ultimately be the difference in such a tight Championship. But this is what can happen. You need luck and you need to be quick and unfortunately, we didn’t have the first one.”
But despite the difficulties, Browning went into the season finale at Monza trailing Champion Leonardo Fornaroli by just five points.
However, a difficult Qualifying left him starting P13 for the Feature Race and to make matters worse, Fornaroli was on Pole while second placed in the Championship Gabriele Minì was third.
Browning was able to make his way up to P6 in the Sprint, but an early spin in Sunday’s finale all but ended his hopes of winning the title as he went on to finish in P20.
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“The Feature Race was my fault,” he explained. “Unfortunately, it was at a point where I had to put it all on the line for the Championship.
“I had to make up positions and unfortunately everyone was racing like their lives depended on it because it was the last race of the season.
“It was the worst time to do it, people weren’t letting me past, as they shouldn’t, but it wasn’t easy. I had to put it on the line but unfortunately it was too much. It is what it is.”
But 2024 still represented a huge step forward for Browning considering he scored 41 points, finished 15th in the Standings and achieved just one podium at the Barcelona Sprint in his rookie season.
“From being thrown into it last year, having the preparations to do it this year, I think we really showed maturity,” he said. “We showed it in the way we raced, in our composure in the most difficult moments, I think we really showed that through the mid-part of the season.
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“From an outside perspective it may not look like much but the growth we had from last year and my ability to be able to learn from the people around me, it’s probably been my biggest strength. I really learned a lot last year and I am hoping to apply it to the end of this year in F2.”
Reflecting on his Formula 3 stint one final time, Browning spoke of his gratitude at having had the opportunity to race in the third tier and also congratulated rival Fornaroli on his title victory.
“It was a dream for me,” said Browning of competing in Formula 3. “After I won GB3 I didn’t expect to have an F3 seat. I didn’t think it was going to happen, I didn’t have the money to do it, and the support before being picked up by Williams.
“Before being a podium finisher in F3, people look at you and wonder whether you can really do it. I am very lucky to have the people around me who have had belief in me, and I’ll look back on Formula 3 to be honest as a bit of a missed opportunity.
“I really feel like we deserved to win it, but this year it just wasn’t meant to be. It does give us more motivation. Obviously, I feel bad for Hitech, the work they have put in, the pace we had in Qualifying this year, the pace we had in races, it really was superior to the rest of the field.
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“But as is life I leave them with the motivation that they have a brilliant team, and I have helped develop them and I leave with them knowing how much they helped to develop me as a driver.
“I have nothing but good things to say about them, a lot of good learnings and Leo is obviously one of the nicest guys on the grid, so I am really happy for him. Hopefully, it helps him in his career too.”