Luke Browning on maiden F2 pole: “Didn’t quite reach the maximum”

Written by Vyas Ponnuri

After taking his maiden Formula 2 pole in a stop-start qualifying session in Monza, Hitech TGR racer Luke Browning believed he hadn’t quite extracted the maximum pace from his car during the 30-minute session that featured three red flag stoppages. 

Browning took his maiden F2 pole in Monza | Credit: Formula 2

Having set only the eighth-quickest time during the first flying laps, Browning found further improvement after the first red flag interruption, going a full 0.318s quicker than second-placed Kush Maini. This was also aided by a slipstream from PREMA Racing’s Sebastián Montoya, helping Browning along the way. 

While the Williams junior has admittedly been F2’s most decorated driver in 2025, having scored seven podiums this season, he was admittedly relieved to secure pole, given he had come close earlier this season. Browning mentioned how it “came back full circle” for him, after missing out in Jeddah and Imola earlier in the season.  

“ Yeah, it was quite funny really,” Browning said, mentioning the circumstances in which he secured pole. 

“In Jeddah, I was on pole with around two minutes to go, and it got resumed. I got done by Jak (Crawford), I think, at the time by a few thousandths. 

“And I was absolutely gutted because IN the following week (in Imola), my teammate got on pole with like seven minutes to go, and the session got cancelled. Here, it was like 12 minutes to go, and then we went out back again, and we had another red flag. So it's like, it came back all in a circle. It's nice to finally be on pole. 

In such a session marred by interruptions, Browning mentioned he had not extracted the full pace from his Hitech TGR, believing there was still time to find at the Temple of Speed, and his competitors could have improved their lap times. 

“We're quite lucky to race here both in Formula 3 and Formula 2, so yeah we drive it quite a lot. When we're getting into qualifying, and we get the opportunity to push, we know roughly where the limit is. 

“You often find that the first flying lap is quite close to what the maximum is. Of course I don't think we quite reached that today, I think many people could have improved, and so could I. So yeah, I'm glad that it finished when it did because I'm on pole, but equally it'd been quite nice for it to run its full course,” Browning expressed, speaking on the situation. 

Browning will certainly be aware of the contenders behind on Sunday | Credit: Formula 2 via X

Pole at Monza, though, isn’t quite the ideal starting point at Monza, with the last three Feature Races seeing those starting further behind utilise the slipstream and make overtakes effectively. More so, reigning F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto came from last on the grid to take the race victory at Monza in 2024, a fact Browning is vary about, going into the weekend’s races, and mentioning that “anything can happen”.

“Come Sunday and Saturday, it's all about the races here, and anything can happen. Last year, it was won from last on the grid, so anything can happen,” Browning said. 

“Equally, we're starting in the best place, so it's very, very nice. But I'm also very realistic here, that ultimately the race pace is very important, and it's important to be smart in the races. 

“The strategy will come into it, we've got two softer compounds of tyres this year (super soft and soft), or one softer compound on the prime tyres, so we're likely to see a lot more strategy. Maybe the first stint could be extended, and then we get a safety car to come out in that window where some people could be pitting on lap seven, while others could be pitting on lap 15. 

“It looks like the varying pit lap is going to be quite a wide window, so we'll see. It's going to be an exciting race,” Browning concluded, speaking of the possibilities in the Feature Race on Sunday. 

With Pirelli having gone for softer tyre compounds this weekend, as opposed to last year’s Monza outing, it leaves the drivers potentially searching for answers heading into the sprint race as well as the Feature Race. When asked if he had gotten a taste of the same in Free Practice earlier on Friday, Browning remained unsure, mentioning the varying factors at play behind the working of the tyres. 

“Not really,” Browning mentioned when asked if a full qualifying session would help him understand the tyres better. “Honestly, having the car filled with fuel in a different time of day, especially during the sprint race, you'd be surprised how sensitive these things are to the tyres and then how it affects you. 

“10-20 degrees of track temperature can be the difference. And quite a high percentage of mechanical error balance too. Depending on how you go into the race weekend, it can be very different, depending on the temperatures. 

“It all depends on how many laps you get. Mainly, you can get a reading of the balance of the car, I guess is to see which way you think it's going to go, or which tyre is going to run out of grip first,” Browning mentioned. 

The Hitech man has a big chance to make up valuable ground in the championship battle this weekend. Following Richard Verschoor losing his fastest lap time and eventually second in the classification, leaving Browning as the only championship contender starting in the top three. 

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne is the closest of the contenders, starting fifth on Sunday, with championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli starting his home race eighth after a mechanical issue hampered his qualifying. 

Jak Crawford’s lap time deletion for track limits dropped him to 11th, three places ahead of Verschoor on the road. The latter had his incident in the Lesmo corners in qualifying and was deemed responsible for bringing out the red flag, losing his quickest lap time. 

While Browning will certainly not tailor his approach based on his contenders’ races, he certainly believes anyone could be in with a chance of victory, in what he terms the closest championship battle in F2’s history. 

“Obviously, it's very satisfying to have my first pole position, that's awesome, but I’m going to apply the same way I go racing, and that's very fast, hopefully. So yeah, it is what it is. 

“The championship is so tight, and you have many people who could finish in the top three at this point. It's probably the tightest championship that's been in Formula 2, full stop. So I'm under no illusions. Although pole positions are a fantastic achievement here, the race is long and it's the easiest place to overtake on the calendar. 

“The goal is to win the race on Sunday and to make as many points as I can, but equally, so is it for the people behind me that have a good opportunity of overtaking at Monza,” Browning concluded, hinting that the job was only half done with pole. 

The Williams junior would certainly be looking to become the first driver since 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri to convert pole into a race victory around Monza in the Feature Race on Sunday. However, he will be starting from tenth for the reverse-grid sprint on Saturday, with teammate Dino Beganovic leading the grid away for the 21-lap race.