Having shown strong consistency throughout the year, Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning finally claimed his long-awaited first F2 pole position during Qualifying at Monza. In a shortened session, the Briton stormed to the top with a 1:32.390, edging out MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor. However, after Verschoor crashed and triggered a red flag which ended the session prematurely, the Dutchman lost his fastest lap, promoting DAMS Lucas Oil’s Kush Maini to P2.
During the post-Qualifying press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Browning reflected on the eventful session, recounting several past occasions where he came close to claiming pole position: “Yeah, it was quite funny really. In Jeddah, I was on pole with like two minutes to go. It got resumed with two minutes to go and I got done by Jak [Crawford], I think at the time, by like a thousandth.”
“And I was absolutely gutted because the following weeks, my teammate got on pole with like seven minutes and it got cancelled. And then, yeah, here 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. So yeah, it’s nice to finally be on pole.”
Finding a rhythm during interrupted stop-start session
The Monza Qualifying session was interrupted by three red flags, disrupting drivers’ runs and making it challenging to find a consistent rhythm. However, Browning acknowledged that finding a rhythm in a disrupted session is a part of the challenge in Formula 2. While he felt close to the limit on his first push lap, he admitted that there was still a bit more pace left in the car that he wasn’t able to quite reach today.
“I think that’s the nature of it really. You know, Formula 2, you get out, you turn up to a different track around the world, something that you haven’t driven very much of. 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, when we get the opportunity to push, yeah, we know roughly where the limit is. So often you find that the first push 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, to be honest, so could I. So yeah, it was quite a bit of a finish when it did. On pole, but equally, it’d been quite nice for it to run its course.”
When asked if he would change anything about what he did today, Browning replied: “No, it’s fine. I’ll leave it at the same.”
An opportunity to capitalise on for big points?
Although the Briton is currently fourth in the Drivers’ Standings with 125 points, starting from pole presents an opportunity to gain ground on his fellow championship contenders, who will be starting further down the grid. However, looking ahead to Sunday, Browning remained realistic, noting that anything could happen during the race.
“I mean, let’s see, come Sunday and Saturday, because it’s all about the races here and anything can happen. Last year, it was won from last, so anything can happen. Equally, we’re starting in the best place. So it’s very, very nice, but I’m also very realistic here that ultimately race pace is very important and it’s important to be smart in the races. Strategy will come into it.”
With two softer compounds this year, the 23 year-old expects tyre degradation to play a bigger role. With the varying strategies combined with the possibility of a safety car, he could see the race unfolding differently for everybody, making for an exciting race.
“We’ve got two softer compounds this year, or one softer compound on the prime. So we’re likely to see a lot more [degradation]. Maybe the options needs to be extended and maybe we get a safety car come out in that window where some people could be boxing on lap 7, others could be boxing on lap 15. So it looks like the varying stop lap is going to be quite a wide window. So we’ll see. It’s going to be an exciting race, I think.”
Focused on maximising points on Sunday
While securing pole is a great achievement, Browning is keeping a level head. Focused on maximising his points haul this weekend, the Briton acknowledged the competitiveness and unpredictability nature of the series, noting that Monza is an overtaking-friendly track and that the race is far from won right now.
Browning said: “Honestly, not really. Yeah, 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 fast, hopefully. So, yeah, it’s what it is. Unfortunately, the championship is so tight. You know, it’s what it is. And, you know, the championship contenders, you know, I think there’s so many people that can finish in the top three at this point in the championship.”
“It’s probably the tightest championship there’s been in Formula 2, full stop. So, I’m under no illusions that, although pole positions are a fantastic achievement here, the race is long and it’s the easiest place to overtake on the calendar. So, yes, to go through the race on Sunday and to make as many points as I can, but equally, yeah, so is it.”
Tyre management with super-soft and soft tyres
When asked by Pit Debrief about how the softer compounds could impact tyre management and strategy, Browning responded: “A question, one I wish I had the answers to, to be honest. It’s the question every weekend. How can we go as fast as we can and not have any [degradation]? I don’t know.”
“We’re going to see tomorrow and then try and learn from it for Sunday. That is why Formula 2 is so tough, because you turn up, you get maybe six laps in practice if you’re lucky, and then a couple of laps in quali, and you don’t really know how the [degradation] is going to go until you’re in the race.”
“We’ll see. I hope the answer’s good. It has been so far. I think a lot of it comes down to the driver management. That’s what Pirelli, I think, have really tried to do with the tyres, is make it so that you can really make a difference to the driving and therefore along the tyres.”
“Let’s see. I don’t know is the honest answer.”, Browning said.
Thoughts on Verschoor’s weight-saving tactics
Ahead of the weekend, Verschoor and MP Motorsport unveiled a new livery aimed at saving weight. Browning explained that while Monza is one of the few circuits where weight isn’t as critical, every kilogram still makes a difference in performance and handling.
“I’d say it’s probably the least important track for weight. We’ve got a lot of horsepower. To put it into perspective, if you put two laps onto it, so a push lap and an in-lap, it’s likely to be a tenth. If you have a push lap and an in-lap on both your first and your second push, it’s probably two tenths. What’s the consumption here? Maybe it’s two and a half kilos a lap, three kilos a lap, something like that. If you’re within six kilos, you’re not taking that off in pace. It’s not making a massive difference.”
Browning ended his response and said: “But it looks cool.”
Tow is the secret to success in Monza
When Pit Debrief asked the top three about if they’d preferred getting a clean lap or one with a tow, Browning reflected on the impact of the tow during Qualifying.
“That was my plan. I didn’t do a bad job of it to be honest. I think my tow is pretty good. Yes, it’s one that’s probably put it into perspective between no tow and a tow about four tenths. Again, it’s very important.”
He explained how the benefit of a tow increases depending on how far back you are in the field, particularly when there’s a few cars between you and the leader. However, he confirmed that it was definitely a factor they thought about.
“You start to pick it up maybe four and a half seconds back, five seconds back, and especially it increases if, for example, you have 20 cars in front of you, you’re six seconds back. Your tow can be bigger than someone that’s two and a half seconds back that’s only three cars behind or behind the leader. For sure, a benefit here. That’s something we thought about.”
Limited knowledge and understanding of the soft tyres
Compared to last year, Pirelli have swapped the medium compound for a soft one this time. When asked whether the team had fully figured out the behaviour of the soft tyres from Friday’s sessions, Browning responded that they hadn’t. Noting that track conditions and fuel load can have a big impact on car balance, the Briton explained how this can make settling on a setup for the race difficult.
“Not really, to be honest. Having the car full of fuel through a different time of day, especially in the sprint race. So, yeah, you’d be surprised how sensitive these things are to the tyres and then how it affects sort of 10, 20 degrees in track temp can be the difference in quite a high percentage in mechanical aero balance. So, yeah, depending on how you go into the race weekend, it can be very different depending on the temperature, etc.”
“Yeah, it depends on how many laps you get. The main thing you can get is just a bit of a balance reading, I guess, is to see which way you think it’s going to go, which tyre is going to go first. But then, you know, you drive behind someone for 20 laps and suddenly it’s a completely different limitation to what it was when you were by yourself. So that’s the nature of it.”
