Luke Browning takes Formula 3 pole on home soil at Silverstone!

Luke Browning put in an amazing latter stages lap to take pole position in Formula 3, on home soil, at Silverstone on Friday.

Browning takes his second pole position in as many Formula 3 rounds after taking pole last time out in Austria.

Browning took a narrow pole ahead of the Jenzer Motorsport car of Max Esterson and Sami Meguetounif who were the top three. Esterson and Meguetounif were second and third respectively and the top three were separated by less than a tenth.

The Williams Academy Hitech driver leads the championship coming into his home event.

How Formula 3 qualifying unfolded at Silverstone

Formula 3 arrived at Silverstone for round seven of 10 in the 2024 season with the final four rounds in the air. The Championship leader Luke Browning was arriving at his home round with an 11 point lead over Gabriele Mini.

On the Friday's earlier practice session it was the American driver Max Esterson, who was fastest for Jenzer Motorsport.

With a threat of rain in the air drivers were keen to get on with it as the early lap times could be the best times set in the session if the rain was to come and soak the track. Without any hesitation all 30 drivers headed out onto the circuit in an attempt to get a good first lap in.

After two installation laps the drivers were to get on with it as the AIX Racing of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak reporting rain.

Noel Leon set the first benchmark lap time for Van Amersfoort with a 1:45.475. That was the lap the others had to all aim to beat. Gabriele Mini came close and went second quickest but would miss out by 0.087s.

However, Mini would fail to stay there as Alex Dunne would put in a great lap to go second quickest by just 17 thousandths ahead of Gabriele Mini.

Some drivers would be prepped for second flying laps as with th threat of rain, time would not want to be wasted by any of the drivers. However, no one could improve on the second run as Dino Beganovic and championship leader Luke Browning.

However disaster for the drivers who needed to improve as the rain was becoming heavier and the rain was making the track wet and there was a lack of grip out there. All the drivers headed back to the pit lane as there was no laps to be set that would mae a difference to the order.

A few drivers would go out onto the circuit with 10 minutes remaining to try and get a feel for the circuit in the current condition with the rain and the drivers were testing the track with the tyres. However, no lap times were threatening the order.and least of all provisional pole man Noel Leon of Van Amersfoort.

Leon would be on course to take his maiden Formula 3 pole position, a great achievement for what it would be for him.

​ However, the dry lines were developing as the rain had mostly stopped on circuit. This saw many drivers out on circuit in the latter stages but the two who would not head out at the top of the time sheets, Noel Leon and Alex Dunne as they thought it was job done.

It was far from job complete and it would be game over as loads of drivers were improving massively as Arvid Lindblad was the first driver to beat the lap time and there were many drivers queuing up.

Beganovic needed a lap but after a mistake in the final corner was unable to make it count and would end the session down in 19th.

British rookie Callum Voisin would be the next to take provisional pole in an extraordinary turn of events as Leon and Dunne were slipping down the order as the times kept tumbling in the session.

There were still drivers to come including Leonardo Fornaroli who would then take provisional pole at Silverstone! He took pole in 2023 but with a lap time of 1:45.265 he was in prime position to take it in 2024.

However, not on Luke Browning's watch. The boy from Britain, on his home event, was not content with Fornaroli taking pole for the feature race at his home event and potentially gaining ground in the championship.

A stunner of a lap from Browning saw him light the timing pages up. He set a 1:44.992 to take provisional pole in the very latter stages of the Formula 3 qualifying. Esterson was fast behind him but could he break Browning's heart? No!

Browning was on pole position in Formula 3 in front of his home crowd at his home event at Silverstone. A fantastic lap from the Williams Academy driver and he pulled a lap out of the bag at a crucial point.

Max Esterson, who topped practice, fought Browning extremely closely for pole position, and he just missed out on pole position by 0.045s. So close for Esterson but that is his best qualifying result in FIA Formula 3 to date. 

Sami Meguetounif would also put in a great lap in third place and would also be less than tenth of Browning's lap. Despite such an impressive time, Fornaroli was fourth for Trident but it would be a great points scoring opportunity for him in both races. Laurens Van Hoepen for ART would complete the top five.

Charlie Wurz was sixth for Jenzer ahead of ART Grand Prix's Christian Mansell in seventh, who was ahead of his own teammate Nikola Tsolov in eighth. Callum Voisin was ninth for Rodin with Matias Zagazeta making it all three Jenzer Motorsport cars in the top 10.

Arvid Lindblad would manage 11th and while Noel Leon thought he would be starting from pole for Sunday's feature race but instead would be starting from reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race.

A crazy session that was thrilling and intense with the ending and the drivers who chose to go out in the latter stages made it pay off superbly well and are in great positions for the races to come across the weekend.

It was Luke Browning though, who was the driver to get it the most accurate when it mattered to take his second pole position in a row in Formula 3 and will start from the front on Sunday's feature race from pole. On Grand Prix Sunday, in front of his home crowd he will have the joy of starting from pole.

The sprint race, which will be on Saturday morning, will be the next action in the Formula 3 weekend. The race will commence at 09:20 local time.

2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 7 - Silverstone qualifying provisional result

1. Luke Browning (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
2. Max Esterson (United States, Jenzer Motorsport)
3. Sami Meguetounif (France, Trident)
4. Leonardo Fornaroli (Italy, Trident)
5. Laurens Van Hoepen (Netherlands, ART Grand Prix)
6. Charlie Wurz (Austria, Jenzer Motorsport)
7. Christian Mansell (Australia, ART Grand Prix)
8. Nikola Tsolov (Bulgaria, ART Grand Prix)
9. Callum Voisin (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
10. Matias Zagazeta (Peru, Jenzer Motorsport)
11. Arvid Lindblad (Great Britain, Prema Racing)
12. Noel Leon (Mexico, Van Amersfoort Racing)
13. Alex Dunne (Republic of Ireland, MP Motorsport)
14. Gabriele Mini (Italy, Prema Racing)
15. Oliver Goethe (Germany, Campos Racing)
16. Joseph Loake (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
17. Sebastian Montoya (Colombia, Campos Racing)
18. Santiago Ramos (Mexico, Trident)
19. Dino Beganovic (Sweden, Prema Racing)
20. Kacper Sztuka (Poland, MP Motorsport)
21. Tim Tramnitz (Germany, MP Motorsport)
22. Mari Boya (Spain, Campos Racing)
23. Cian Shields (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
24. Nikita Bedrin (Italy, AIX Racing)
25. Sophia Floersch (Germany, Van Amersfoort Racing)
26. Tommy Smith (Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing)
27. James Wharton (Australia, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
28. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Thailand, AIX Racing)
29. Joshua Dufek (Austria, AIX Racing)
30. Piotr Wisnicki (Poland, Rodin Motorsport)

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal