Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning delivered a stellar drive from sixth to second, securing his ninth podium of the year in the F2 Baku Sprint Race. It was an amazing Sprint Saturday for Hitech as the 23 year-old crossed the line behind teammate Dino Beganovic to secure the team a 1-2 finish.
After claiming his maiden F2 victory in Monza, the Briton continued to showcase his consistency heading into the weekend. Earning more valuable points to cut the gap to current championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli, the Briton enters the Feature Race just 17 points away from taking the lead in the Drivers’ Standings.
“It’s really nice to see” – Browning on Hitech 1-2 finish
Speaking in the post-sprint press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Browning reflected on the race and the strong results he and his teammate managed to deliver for the team. However, the Briton first took a moment to acknowledge Beganovic’s impressive performance: “Yeah, I mean, honestly, first of all, I’ve just got to say, Dino [Beganovic] did a fantastic job today. It was great to see a lot of control from him. And I think he’s had a lot of bad luck this year. I mean, just being sat next to him, he’s been very quick a lot of the time. And the execution, or for whatever reason, to be honest, often outside of his control has been tough. So it’s really nice to see him.”
“And to be honest, to both be on the podium in fashion like that, for Hitech, it’s really nice to see. So my race today was interesting, to say the least.”
In classic street-racing fashion, Browning emphasized that staying out of trouble proved decisive once again, noting that his move on PREMA Racing’s Sebastian Montoya allowed him to then create a gap that secured himself another podium finish.
“Once again, just staying out of trouble served me well. I was just taking caution, honestly, and just used the pace in the middle of the race when I needed to. There was a time when I just passed [Sebastian] Montoya that I thought, right, I need to get a gap now. And I did. Then the last five laps, six laps, I was just chilling then, waiting for the race to end. And yeah, it all went well.”
Navigating the streets of Baku in the rain
As the race entered its closing stages, rain began to fall, though only on certain parts of the track. The moment droplets of rain started to fall down, Browning described it as some of the toughest conditions he has ever raced in.
“I think, as Dino [Beganovic] said, that is probably one of the toughest conditions I’ve ever raced in. And that includes the wet. I love the wet. And sometimes the non-visibility for me is not an issue. But today’s wind, with how unpredictable it was super tough. The intermittent rain in the last sector, I went through one lap and had no grip. And then the next lap was completely fine.”
“So it was just evolving so fast. I wouldn’t have liked to have been the first one through there. I was very much gauging it off how quick Dino [Beganovic] went through. So that was nice to have.”
With both Hitech drivers in the top two, Browning spoke about the grip levels in the rain. Having decided that any risk is not worth taking, he explained how his focus instead shifted to bringing the car home safely after his engineer advised him to manage the gap behind.
“Enough to guarantee that I wasn’t going to lock up and go straight on anywhere. I think that’s it. You know, it’s just the braking here. It’s so easy to get it wrong.”
“And for me, it wasn’t worth the risk here with the rain coming down. Yeah, I just brought it home. I had Finn, my engineer. He’s fantastic. He gave me some perspective in the middle of the race when we had a good gap behind. He said, Luke, just bring it home. No risk.”
Slowly chasing down Fornaroli in the championship
With just two rounds remaining, Browning’s championship hopes remain very much alive. Although Fornaroli will start on the front-row ahead of the Briton, securing points and maximising every opportunity will be crucial for him. When asked about his thoughts on his current championship position, Browning replied: “Yeah. I mean, I just try to not focus on the championship. I know it sounds daft, but the pressure of it is obviously high. But you’ve got to be able to, if you’re going to have a career in this, you need to be able to understand that this pressure is going to be constant and deal with it. I love it. I think it’s fantastic.”
He credited his championship position to consistent point-scoring during rounds where they’ve found themselves less competitive. With Qatar and Abu Dhabi left on the 2025 calendar, Browning aims to maintain this form until the end of the season.
“Yeah, I think I’m only here because of consistency that I’ve managed to pull through the middle of the year when maybe the rounds weren’t the fastest or it wasn’t going so well or, you know, I didn’t quite have the pace to keep with them. But I still managed to scrape a couple points here and there or I managed to keep the position that maybe I didn’t have the pace for.”
“And then when we really had the pace, like Monza, for example, I was able to extract the most out of it. So yeah, continuing that form towards the end of the year is the plan and just see where we end up.”
Driving in extremely windy conditions
The Baku Sprint Race presented drivers, including Browning, with the challenge of navigating extreme wind conditions. When asked to describe driving in strong winds and how drivers manage it, Browning explained the ways they tackle this challenge.
“Yeah, I think, you know, what’s been really interesting, or a cool way to put it is, you know, Formula One, if you ever talk about sidewinds and how it affects the car, I think for anyone that was tuned in, a lot of the drivers were in FP3 mentioning about T4, I think, and the wind how it funnels there and then struggling from the steer entry to mid. In the Formula One car, they go in the wind tunnel and, you know, they develop the car in a way that at that sidewind angle, you have less understeer. For us, we’ve all got the same car, and it’s been the same car since the beginning of the championship.”
“And with this ground effects car, it’s very, very difficult to manage the way that the air goes through and then how the downforce affects, for those that are very interested in the technical side at home. I think it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack sometimes, if you’ve got wind coming from different angles, especially up to 30, 40 kmph.”
“I think yesterday, that swing going from 0 to 5k, to now 30, 40 kmph, the thrust is just huge, especially in an opposite direction, it almost feels double. It can add 20 metres onto your braking point, it can cause you to lock the front wheel, and sometimes just lose all downforce and stall the floor altogether at some point. So, yeah, it’s difficult for those out there, and it’s definitely one you’ve got to manage.”
Hardwork behind the scenes at Hitech
Hitech’s 1-2 finish moves the team to just 17 points behind current leaders Invicta Racing in the Teams’ Standings. With time and opportunities still remaining, both Hitech drivers definitely have a chance to close the gap and claim the title. Reflecting on his long-standing relationship with the team, Browning noted how he’s grown and climbed through the single-seater ranks with them. He further highlighted how Hitech has been influential in the development of drivers throughout the years.
“Yeah, I’ve been with Hitech for a long time now, all the way since F4. So I feel like I’ve grown up with the team and I think they’ve seen me grow too. So it’s really nice to see this form from them in Formula 2. But also in Formula 3 this year, they’ve done a good job. Formula 4, they’re doing a great job. I think they’re leading right now.”
“And in GB3, I won a championship with them back in the day. Alex [Dunne] was obviously in Hitech when he did GB3 as well. So we were all been Hitech boys at one point. Yeah, it’s really nice to see the way that they’ve helped grow junior drivers’ careers. And they’re always trying their best, which is, I think, the ethos of the team.”
Keeping tyre temperatures in the right window
When asked about how drivers were able to keep their tyres in the right window, Browning echoed his teammate’s thoughts. In extreme winds, he noted how brakes cool quickly and the careful pacing needed to safely navigate through the field, praising Beganovic’s safety car restarts.
“Yeah, to be honest, just mirroring what Dino [Beganovic] says, and yeah, what we spoke about earlier, I just think it’s tough. Naturally, with the wind being so high, the brakes cool quickly. And yeah, obviously, you have to drive quite slowly to unpack the safety car down to start and finish before the restarts.Everything’s getting cold right before T1. But I think that’s probably better than arriving at 320km or behind each other. So, yeah, I think Dino did a good job on the restarts.”
Advice for Beganovic
Having made his F2 debut here last year, Pit Debrief asked Browning if his past experience has helped so far this weekend and if he’d offered any advice to Beganovic, who is visiting the circuit for the first time. Browning joked, “Did I share any advice with you?”, as the Hitech duo shared a laugh.
The 23 year-old acknowledged that maximising any time on track is something he always makes the most of. However, he reminded everybody how he’d experienced Baku with a different team and car last year, noting that this weekend has been a very different experience from last year.
“For sure, it helps, but that’s what you pay for. It costs a lot to come and do the race before. I try my best to make the most of that. But, yeah, I mean, for sure. And, actually, I did it with a different team last year, so the car was very different. But, equally, so is the track condition. This weekend has been very, very different to last year. Not only in FP, but then in quali and now Race 1 was just a completely different experience from what I had last year. Yeah, it’s going well so far. So, I guess, yeah.”
