"I was already past the pit entry!": Luke Browning on strategy gamble at Suzuka, switch to Super Formula and more

Credit: Super Formula

Luke Browning is one of the five rookies on this year’s Super Formula field. He is a Formula 2 graduate, having raced for Hitech GP in the junior formula series. The Williams F1 Team reserve driver made headlines earlier this year after finishing fourth on his first full race in Super Formula. 

The Brit sat down with us at DIVEBOMB after Round 4 of the 2026 Super Formula season to discuss today’s events and much more.

“I come into every weekend thinking I can win it because I believe in myself. Yeah, some places sometimes we were really quick this weekend, sometimes not so much and it's just understanding and learning why that is.”

During the first portion of the race, a lot of drivers were struggling with tyre wear, especially on the right side tyres. Browning experienced tyre degradation, but differently from his fellow drivers.

“Yeah, I [had tyre degradation]. But the more degradation for me, the faster I went effectively. So, it was a little bit different to some drivers.”

Round 4 was a unique race where the field was split up between wet weather tyres and slicks with four laps to go, and the slicks proved to be the optimal tyre choice. Browning was among those in slicks and finished an impressive fourth. He reveals that he actually intended to switch to wets, but could not.

“We actually committed to boxing, but I was already past the pit entry! So, yeah, we thought maybe it wouldn't dry in time. Yeah, we were so far up that it was difficult to make the decision so quickly. So, it worked in a good way”

Round 5 takes place tomorrow, Browning lays down his expectations for the final race before a two month break.

“I've got no expectations. Just try and continue to learn and try and pick up from the learnings and the lessons that we had in qualifying in the race today, and there's a lot of them. So, yeah, it's a learning experience.”

Credit: Super Formula

Following this weekend, there are mid-season test sessions scheduled to be held at the Fuji Speedway. Browning elaborated on his plan for the tests and how he plans to approach them.

“Continue learning, hopefully. Bridge that gap a little bit more in terms of mainly qualifying pace. Yeah, our race degradation seems good, but just getting a little bit more out of the tyre on that peak lap would be good. 

“But equally, these tracks are mainly all new circuits for me, obviously, other than the testing we had here in Suzuka. So, it's not easy to get up to speed right away, but yeah, we're getting there.”

Browning then went on to elaborate on his expectations for the rest of the season following this round and his mentality heading into race weekends.

“My first year in the championship, you know, I'm with an engineer that's never done this before, and we're just learning as we go, and it's great preparation for my future, hopefully.”

As mentioned earlier, Browning is an F2 graduate. He explained his and the Williams F1 Team's decision to join Super Formula and end his F2 campaign.

“The decision not to do another year of Formula 2 was at the point that I was leaving the championship. It was one of those things where, yeah, [the Williams F1 Team and I] committed to moving on, and this was the thing that is closest to Formula 1 after Formula 2.”

Round 5 will take place tomorrow at 2:45 PM JST, with the qualifying sessions being held earlier tomorrow at 10:25 AM JST.